RSPC, 17 Din 2008 PDF

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17 2008

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GHEORGHE VLDU ESCU (Romanian Academy), ALEXANDRU BOBOC (Romanian
Academy), FLORIN CONSTANTINIU (Romanian Academy), CRISTIAN PREDA (University
of Bucharest), LAURENTIU VLAD (University of Bucharest), VLADIMIR OSIAC (University
of Craiova), CTLIN BORDEIANU (Petre Andrei University of Iai)

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M MI I H HA AI I C CI I M MP PO OI I
P Pr r e e s s i i d de e n nt t o o f f t t h he e A Ac c a a d de e m my y o o f f t t h he e R Re e p pu ub bl l i i c c o o f f M Mo o l l d da a v vi i a a
M MI I C CH HA AE EL L R RA AD DU U, ,
Seni or Fe l l ow, Forei gn Pol i cy Research I nst i t ut e, Phi l adel phi a, USA
Co- Chai r man, FPRI s Cent er on Ter rori s m, Count er- Ter rori s m and Homel and
Securi t y, Phi l adel phi a, USA
Y YO OH HA AN NA AN N M MA AN NO OR R, ,
Pr of essor , Uni versi t y de J erusal em, I s rael
Pr esi dent , Cent er f or Moni t ori ng t he I mpact of Peace ( CMI P)
J J O OZ ZE E P PI I R RJ J E EV VE EC C, ,
Pr of essor , Uni versi t y of Tr i est e, I t al y
P PA AT TR RI I C CI I A A G GO ON NZ ZA AL LE EZ Z- - A AL LD DE EA A
Pr of essor , Uni versi t y Franci sco de Vi t ori a, Madri d, Spai n
O OL LI I V VE ER R F F R RI I G GG GI I E ER RI I , ,
Pr of e s s or , Uni ver si t y of Mal t a
C CR RI I S ST TI I N NA A B BE EJ J A AN N, ,
Wadham Col l ege, Oxf ord, Great Bri t ai n
S SL LA AV VC CO O A AL LM M J J A AN N, ,
Pr of e s s or , Uni ver si t y of Novi Sad, Serbi a
Pr e s i de nt , Ar gos Cent er f or Open Di al ogue, Novi Sad, Ser bi a
N NI I C CU U C CI I O OB BA AN NU U
Pr e s i de nt , Li bert at eaPubl i shi ng Hous e, Novi Sad, Serbi a

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Editor in chief: A AU UR RE EL L P PI I U UR RC C
Deputy editor in chief: I IO ON N D DE EA AC CO ON NE ES SC CU U
Editorial board: C CE EZ ZA AR R A AV VR RA AM M, , V VL LA AD DI IM MI IR R O OS SI IA AC C, , M MI IH HA AI I C CO OS ST TE ES SC CU U, , A AN NC CA A P PA AR RM ME EN NA A
O OL LI IM MI ID D, , C CO OS SM MI IN N L LU UC CI IA AN N G GH HE ER RG GH HE E, , C C T T L LI IN N S ST T N NC CI IU UL LE ES SC CU U, , C C T T L LI IN NA A G GE EO OR RG GE ES SC CU U, ,
T TI IT TE EL LA A V V L LC CE EA AN NU U, , M MI IH HA AI I G GH HI I U UL LE ES SC CU U

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a au ut t h ho or r i i z ze ed d b by y t t h he e N Na a t t i i o on na a l l C Co ou un nc c i i l l o of f S Sc c i i e en nt t i i f f i i c c R Re es s e ea ar r c c h h i i n n S Su up pe e r r i i o or r E Ed du uc c a a t t i i o on n
( ( C CN NC CS SI I S S) ) i i n n t t h he e C C c c a a t t e e g go or r y y p pe e r r i i o od di i c c a a l l p pu ub bl l i i c c a a t t i i o on ns s o of f n na a t t i i o on na a l l i i n nt t e er r e es s t t ( ( M Ma a y y 1 16 6
t t h h
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University of Craiova, 13 A. I. Cuza Street, Craiova, 200585, Dolj, Romania, Tel/Fax: +40251418515.

2008- Editura Universitaria
All rights reserved. All partial or total reproduction without the authors written agreement is strictly
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ISSN: 1584-224X

http://cis01.central.ucv.ro/revistadestiintepolitice/
University of Craiova Faculty of History, Philosophy, Geography Political Science Department

Revista de tiine Politice. Revue des Sciences Politiques Nr. 17 2008
5

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CEZAR AVRAM, ROXANA RADU, Competence, participation and Political
Loyalty in the Process of Romanias Integration in EU
7
ELENA TOB, DALIA SIMION, Fundamental Changes in Romanian Trade
Policy after the Accession to the European Union
18
MDLINA VOICAN, Governments Role in Coordination of Decision-Making
Process
26

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ION DEACONESCU, Russia and the Binominal of Power 32
IOANA ALBU, ANDREW TOLETT, The ew Democracy and Market reforms in
Latin America
34
ANCA PARMENA OLIMID, 2008 US Presidential Elections: The Iraq War,
Party Platforms and Social Polarization
39
OLIVER FRIGGIERI, The Role of Malta in a Unified Europe 45
YOHANAN MANOR, Arabs and Palestinians in Israeli School Textbooks. 55
ION-VIOREL MATEI, The Implications of the Commercial Tranzactions
through Settling Up in the Conditions of International Economical
Globalization

72
ADRIAN BOGDAN, Terrorism Motivation or Violation of Human Rights? 78

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CRISTINA PIGUI, A Strategy for the Conservation of the Participative
Democracy Real Character
81
CLIN SINESCU, The Media and the Representation of Politics 86
A. IONESCU, M.R. COSTESCU, Statistical Evaluation of Events in the Mixing
Models
96
DANIEL TOB, LAURENIU DRAGOMIR, The Impact of the Financial politics
on the Electorates Behaviour
101
University of Craiova Faculty of History, Philosophy, Geography Political Science Department


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CLIN SINESCU, The Public Opinion and its Role in the Electoral System 107

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CTLINA MARIA GEORGESCU, Public-Private Partnerships and the ew
Public Procurement Directive
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LUCIAN PRVU, Lisbon 2007: Advance or Regression in Europe? 122

ROMANIAN POLITICS

7
Competence, Participation and Political Loyalty in the
Process of Romanias Integration in EU

Cezar AVRAM, Roxana RADU

Rsum: Dans les circonstances cres par la chute du communisme, la
vision roumaine sur lintgration europenne a connu des changements et
des volutions radicales. Acceptant, au dbut, ce processus comme ralit
historique et la collaboration conomique bi et multilatrale avec les pays
occidentaux et avec lUnion europenne, la Roumanie est arrive accepter
lintgration europenne et, plus important, de demander officiellement
ladhsion conomique et militaire. Cela montre un changement radical de la
conception et de lattitude politique qui va de la coopration lintgration
complte dans les structures conomiques, politiques, montaires et
militaires uropennes.
Keywords : European Union, Integration, Sovereignty, Federalism,
Subsidiarity.

he notion of integration has acquired
another, much more comprehensive
connotation in economics, politics,
individual and collective mentality since
the treaties of Maastricht and Helsinki.
Considering the way it was conceived
and prepared from economic, political and
administrative point of view, integration
represented a radical change, a break of
huge size starting from local and national
agents and markets, multiple and diverse,
from individual and national decisions to
an economic institutional and decisional
space, inter and suprastate, to community
policies and strategies, both for the interior
and the exterior. Convinced and aware of
this indubitable truth, politicians have
adhered, not without reservations, to the
tactics of small and successive steps
because it is the only way suitable for
obtaining the results desired and expected
in the circumstances of the present
European space. This is the explanation for
the fact that the EU expanded from 6 to 12
members and will further expand from 25
to 27 members, for the fact that a single
currency was introduced and how the
European Constitution will certainly be
adopted.
All the attempts to define the concept
of integration were and still are situated
between the meaning of cooperation and
the one of creating supranational spaces
and organizations.
The pluralist approach recommends a
form of loose association based on the
sovereignty of nation-states which envisage
integration as a pluralistic community of
states developing links of international
cooperation. In this form of integration the
T
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Cezar Avram, Roxana Radu


8
national states aim at political union by
intergovernmental cooperation at the level
of heads of states or government, while
the international organization has no real
will of its own and no power to create a
new political entity apart from the wishes
of its members
1
.
The functionalist approach
2
argues
that in the modern world the technological,
economic and social forces create a
complicated network of economic inter-
relationships between states and cause
problems of international dimensions.
Therefore the objective of maximizing the
economic welfare transcends the boundaries
and abilities of nation-states. The pressure
of these inexorable economic problems
makes international cooperation unavoidable
and ultimately leads to economic and political
integration. For these reasons, the economic
integration precedes the political one.
In the neofunctionalist approach
3
, the
need for economic and political integration
comes from the interaction of economic
and political forces rather than from
functional needs or technological change.
Integration develops not through a
predetermined process (as in the functionalist
approach) but from the need to resolve the
conflicts arising among competing interest
groups which realize that more can be
gained by cooperation rather than discord.
For the neofunctionalists, the institutions
of the EU constitute the beginnings of a
supranational state. The Community method
gradually unifies the national markets of
the participants by negative integration,
removing internal barriers to trade and by
positive integration, adopting common policies.
In short, neofunctionalism is inadequate
not simply because simple variants appear
to be empirically disproved but because
more sophisticated versions of it remain
indeterminate
4
.
The federalist approach
5
to integration
entails setting up a supranational federal
authority to regulate the behavior of the
constituent states and to assume many of
their sovereign rights and obligations. The
way the economic, political and legal
powers are shared between the member
states and the federal government is
decided by a constitutional conference
6
.
Before December 1989, Romania saw
integration, almost exclusively, in the shape
of economic cooperation with West-
European countries and coordination of
single national plans of socio-economic
development with Socialist countries: the
history of the approaching between
Romania and EU is a tumultuous history
exposed to the wind of Cold War and of a
communist regime with a development
perspective depending on the will and the
whims of the politics
7
.
Romania was always afraid not of
integration in West European structures,
but of the peril of being transformed
through socialist integration, into a Soviet
republic. Its geopolitical position and
status of country situated in the Soviet
influence zone forced Romania to keep its
balance not only in the matter of foreign
policy, but also home policy.
In the circumstances created by the
irreversible break with communism, Romania's
vision upon European integration has
known and still knows radical changes and
evolutions. Starting with the acceptance of
this process as historical reality and the
economic collaboration, bi and multilateral,
with the Western countries and the
Community on the whole, Romania has
come to admit European integration in the
present and future form and structures and,
which is more important, to officially ask
the adhesion: both economic and military
adhesion. This fact shows an obvious
change of political conception and
behavior that goes from the cooperation
dimension to the complete integration in
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Competence, Participation and Political Loyalty in the Process of Romanias Integration in EU

9
the pan-European economic, political,
monetary and military structures.
European integration was defined as
the process through which EU member
states agree to transfer progressively a
series of competences depending on the
national sovereignty from national to
supranational level accepting to exercise it
in common (together), cooperating in the
respective fields of activity in order to reach
certain objectives of political, economic,
social and cultural nature concerning these
state's progress and development
8
, being
often identified with a decrease of the
sovereign power of the member states and
an increase of the influence of the
supranational central authority.
EU was born on the basis of some
international treaties and owns only those
competences offered by the states which
have remained sovereign from the
international law's point of view; however,
the member states agreed to the limitation
of such important competence, which was
practically incompatible with their constitutional
dispositions which established the principle
of national sovereignty. It was said that the
treaties on EU, especially the ones of
Maastricht and Amsterdam, affected the
essential conditions of exercising national
sovereignty. In these circumstances, the
treaties could be ratified only after the
Constitution revisal. Revising member
states' Constitutions was equivalent to
modifying the essential conditions of
exercising national sovereignty.
By analysing the fundamental laws of
EU member states we can observe that
some of them make intentional references
to the fact that state is able to transfer to
the European institutions some sovereign
competence or to accept exercising them
in common, while others admit only
indirectly the idea of exercising together
the sovereign functions of national states
through the settlement of EU integration
process and through treaties ratification
method
9
.
The manner of settlement and wording
differs from one state to another, the
following expressions being met
10
: transfer
of sovereignty rights (Germany
11
), delegation
of sovereignty functions (Denmark),
transfer of competences (France), the
common exercise of powers necessary for
the European construction (Portugal),
the possibility to entrust the exercise of
legislative, executive and judicial powers
to some institutions of international law
(Luxemburg), renouncing the decisional
power exercised by national bodies in
favor of the Community ones, in certain
conditions (Sweden). Only one country
asserts the limitation of state's sovereignty
necessary for integration (Italy). The use of
this terminology different from one state to
another reflects a tint of the position
adopted by the respective state in the
problem of sovereignty's limitation
12
. It is
however obvious that, no matter the
terminology used, the member states
accepted in one way or another, the idea of
sovereignty's limitation.
Article 2 paragraph 1 of the revised
Romanian Constitution stipulates that national
sovereignty belongs to Romanian people,
and Romania's adhesion to the treaties on
EU, in keeping with article 148, has the
purpose of transferring some functions to
community institutions, as well as
exercising, in common with the other
member states, the competences stipulated
in these treaties. Romania's Constitution
also intentionally asserts under the
circumstances of accession to EU, the
principle of community law's supremacy
in keeping with which the rules of
community law will make any in force or
future rules of national law inoperable if
they are contrary, but only in the matter of
community juridical relations, fact that do
not hinder the application of national rules
ROMANIAN POLITICS


10
in other relations not included in this field
and in relation with which the sovereign
functions of state will continue to manifest
themselves
13
. It is obvious that the
constitutional changes made by Romania
reconstruct the notion of sovereignty at
least the notion known in the classical
law. Nowadays sovereignty proves to be
not a rigid and out-dated concept, but a
new, flexible and dynamic one, a forever
young concept, freed from xenophobia,
ultra nationalism and disregard for other
peoples rights
14
.
A new concept considered by many
analysts as being the most adequate to the
present reality at community level is the
one of shared sovereignty. Shared
sovereignty does not involve the total loss
of some functions of internal sovereignty,
but enlarges the external and interdependent
capacities of national sovereignty in the
direction of strengthening the capacity to
regulate economic and political matters
(such as the free movement of persons,
goods and capitals) in a more coherent,
efficient and cheaper manner
15
.
Regarding the possibility of sharing
sovereignty in the context of affiliation to
the EU, it is considered that the partition
of sovereignty or the estrangement of
some of its parts, cannot be accepted, but
only the delegation of the competence to
exercise some functions related to the
sovereignty of member states or their
exertion in common with EU's
institutions
16
.
This opinion leads to a shared exercise
of sovereignty, but a sovereignty seen in a
different manner than in the classical
doctrine (abstract, indivisible and unalienable),
a sovereignty which surpasses the
quantitative approach that sees it as being
territorial. This new approach considers
that sovereignty is functionally divisible
and therefore able to describe the
functioning of an integration mechanism
whatever the result may be: re-
arrangement, merging or exertion in
common of sovereignties
17
.
As EU's member states agree to
exercise in common certain competences
one can take into consideration neither the
division of national sovereignty with other
states nor the endowment of European
structures with own sovereignty (the so-
called European sovereignty
18
). Member
states keep their national sovereignty but
within other limits than before joining the
EU, the notion of relativisation being
more appropriate than the one of
sovereignty partition
19
.
Regarding sovereignty, Romanian theorists
affirmed that national sovereignty disappears
only at the same time with nation
20
and
Romanian state's sovereignty will not be
diminished either by European integration
or regionalism institutionalization
21
. The
new dimension the sovereignty concept
will get in the context of Romania's
integration was emphasized by the practice
of the Constitutional Court: the act of
integration has also the sense of dividing
the exercise of these sovereign functions
with the other states of the international
organization. Consequently, the Constitutional
Court finds that, through the agency of the
acts of transferring some functions to the
EU structures, the latter do not obtain a
supracompetence, a sovereignty of its
own. Actually, EU member states decided
to exercise in common certain functions
which are traditionally related to national
sovereignty. It is obvious that, at the
present stage of globalization of mankind
concerns, of interstate evolution and
human communication at planetary level,
the concept of national sovereignty can be
no more seen as an absolute and
indivisible one without the risk of an
unacceptable isolation
22
.
In the light of the new changes having
occurred at international level there is a
ROMANIAN POLITICS

11
distinction between sovereignty-substance
and sovereignty-exercise, being emphasized
the fact that only the exercise of
sovereignty is in fact restricted, not its
substance which remains untouched. This
distinction was made for the first time in a
decision of the Permanent Court of
International Justice (Decision nr. 1 from
17 August 1923) in the Wimbledon Ship
Case. The Court showed the refusal of
considering that concluding a treaty by
which a state pledges to do or not to do
something means the abandonment of its
sovereignty. Without any doubt, any
convention which gives birth to this kind
of obligation establishes a restriction of the
exercise of state's sovereign rights in the
sense of exercising them in a certain
imposed way
23
.
Sovereignty will be seen as that assembly
of member states competences defined in
relation with community law. Building the
sovereignty of the federation's member
states will essentially be the practical issue
of applying the principle of subsidiarity
24
.
This principle, well understood and applied,
permits the effecting of a reconciliation
between EU and the national Constitutions,
being an important instrument of
maintaining states functions, which are
inseparable from national sovereignty
25
.
The adoption of the European Constitution
appears to be the most adequate solution to
this controversial issue.
The diversity of terms used to define,
as a matter of fact, the one and the same
phenomenon (transfer of competences,
transfer of sovereignty, assignment of
competences, limited sovereignty, shared
sovereignty) reflects the importance and
the interest of member states, political or
juridical theorists toward this process,
especially from the point of view of the
dimensions and duration of the effect it
might have on state's sovereignty. From
this point of view, the determination of
juridical nature of community competence
becomes very important.
The characteristic feature of the
European construction consists in the fact
that there is not a general assignment of
competence, but there is specific
competence, intentionally stipulated in the
constitutive treaties on EU, subsidiary
competence created through the acts of
modifying the constitutive treaties and
implicit competences, created by the Court
of Justice in the activity of applying and
interpreting the treaties dispositions
26
. The
recognition of implicit competences on the
basis of article 308 (ex-article 235) of CEE
Treaty gave rise to many juridical
controversies due to the tendency of
extending the community competence at
the expense of national competence
27
. The
establishment of the principle of
subsidiarity through the Maastricht Treaty
was equivalent to the expansion of EU
implicit or subsidiary competence.
On the basis of the subsidiarity
principle, the Union interferes in fields that
do not belong to its exclusive competence
only in case of and in the extent to which
the expected objectives of the action
cannot be achieved in a satisfactory
manner by member states and, taking into
consideration the dimensions and effects
of the respective action, it can be better
carried out at community level
28
. In this
case, the community intervention responds
to some necessity reasons. The control of
observing this principle belongs to the
legislator which has a large power of
estimating its application and in case its
application is contested the Court of
Justice will get an intimation after the
respective act is adopted
29
.
Although the principle of subsidiarity
is a reverse federal principle, EU still
remains a political entity whose proximate
species is federation. People
30
say that the
subsidiarity principle is a reverse federal
ROMANIAN POLITICS


12
principle because, in federal states (Germany,
for example), the federation's competence
is general and the competence of its
members is secondary while, in the case of
EU, the competence of member states is
general and the one of the Union is
secondary. The Union inteferes only when
the treaties confer on her competence in
one sector or another.
The Treaty of European Constitution
establishes the fundamental principles
applicable to the Union's competences: the
principle of competence assignment, the
principle of subsidiarity and the principle
of proportionality. According to the principle
of competence assignment, the Union acts
only on the basis of competence given by
the Constitution. The principle of subsidiarity
is applicable to the fields of shared or
support competence where the Union acts
only if and in the extent to which states'
action is not sufficient. In accordance with
the principle of proportionality, the exertion
of Union's competences, in comparison
with member states' competence, in fields
of shared competence, must be proportional
to the objectives likely to succeed.
The Treaty of European Constitution
specifies that EU can act only in the limits
of the powers and objectives established
by this Constitution and classifies Union's
competence in:
a) exclusive competence of EU: customs
union, establishing the rules of
competence required for operating the
common market, monetary policy for
member states whose currency is euro,
common trade policy, preserving sea's
biological resources inside common
fishing policies;
b) competence shared between European
institutions and member states: home
market, social policy, strengthening
economic, social and territorial cohesion,
agricultural and fishing policy, excepting
the preservation of biological resources
of the sea; environmental policy,
consumer protection, transport, trans-
European networks, energy, space of
liberty, security and justice, common
security objectives concerning the
public health;
c) support, coordination or complementary
competence: protecting and improving
human health, industry, culture, tourism,
education, youth policy, sport and
occupational training, civil protection,
administrative cooperation.
This three pillars structure of Union's
competences will strengthen the principles
of subsidiarity and proportionality, leaving
the majority of decisions in the b) pillar,
decisions which are to be taken with a
qualified majority.
Separately from Union's competence
there is a fourth category: the exclusive
competence of member states inside of
which there is the territorial administration
of each European country because this
issue will not be and it is not wanted to be
regulated from the European level as the
EU could not manage this process better
than the member states themselves.
While the Treaty of Nice, admitting
the fact that not all member states or future
member states own the same resources,
introduced the concept of strengthened
cooperation, the Project of European
Constitution uses the notion of intensified
cooperation, establishing that the member
states willing to set up a mechanism of
intensified cooperation in the fields that
EU does not own exclusive competence
can use the Union's institutions and
exercise certain competences by applying
Constitution's dispositions, respectively if
the following conditions are fulfilled:
- the aim of intensified cooperation is
promoting Union's interests and
objectives and the strengthening of the
process of integration;
ROMANIAN POLITICS

13
- at least a third of member states are
involved;
- there is the Council's permit, given in
keeping with the procedures established
by the Project;
- the Council considers that the
cooperation objectives could not be
achieved in a reasonable term by the
Union on the whole.
European political integration
encompasses the noneconomic aspects of
European integration, ranging from the EU
institutional structure to foreign and
security policy
31
.
After signing the Treaties of Rome,
the European construction focused
especially on economic aspects, political
cooperation in the field of international
relations being often a taboo subject
32
. The
accession of European states to NATO
(1949) determined sovereignty limitation
in the matter of defense
33
, setting European
troupes under American command. This
transfer of sovereignty to NATO set many
obstacles on the way of building European
defense policy because it is difficult to
transfer to Europe something that is already
owned by NATO
34
. For this reason, the
problems of security and defense were
initially excluded from the cooperation field.
Starting with the Single European Act
(1986), the member states declared
themselves ready for coordinating their
positions concerning the political and
economic aspects of security, but the first
reference to the question of security and
defense was made in the Treaty of
Maastricht, but in very vague words,
trying to come to a compromise between
the supporters of defense inside NATO
and the supporters of building an European
identity of defense. In accordance with the
same treaty, the Common Foreign and
Security Policy (CFSP) represents one of
the EU pillars, together with the European
Community, Justice and Home Affairs.
The Maastricht Treaty established many
connections between EU and Western
European Union (WEU), a cooperation
organization in the field of security and
defense created in 1948, elevating WEU to
the rank of a constituent part of EU
development but with its own institutional
autonomy. Not even the Maastricht Treaty
does include more explicit references to
the Common Defense Policy.
The argument in favor of building
European political union was strengthened
by the revelation of Europe's weakness
during the Gulf War (1990-1991): The
Gulf crisis is not only double. It is
subdivided into so many national crisis as
countries participant or non-participant in
the coalition. The Gulf conflict represents
a crisis for France, as well as it is for Great
Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Germany...
35
.
The European Community intended to
adopt a common position concerning the
Gulf War and to act collectively regarding
the civil war in ex-Yugoslavia, but these
attempts failed, reflecting the divergences
among the interests of member states
36
.
The disappointment caused by this
failure and the awareness of the military
and political deficit of Europe led to the
reorganization of Europe's program of
political integration: Kosovo turned out to
be a catalyzing element in a new trans-
atlantic negotiation and for a larger
autonomy of Europe, reflected in the shape
of a common foreign relations and security
policy as well as European identity of
security and defense or the European
pillar of NATO
37
. Thus, at the European
Council in Helsinki (December 1999), EU
member states decided to develop their
military capacities and construct new
political and military structures in order to
endow the Union with an autonomous
capacity to decide and, when and in the
extent to which NATO is not involved in,
to launch and lead military operations
ROMANIAN POLITICS


14
under its own command in case of some
international crises
38
. Even if all NATO
member states admitted the necessity for
the Europeans to own military capacities
independent from the USA contribution
for the purpose of promoting common
foreign and security policy of EU, the idea
of building European army was rejected
because of the fear that this idea could lead
to the creation of a pure European alliance
and the discrimination of European states
which are NATO members but not also
EU members, and also to the doubling of
the duties and allocating of resources by
NATO and EU
39
. The development of
Defense and Security European Identity
(DSEI) inside NATO and the application
of the principle of building European force
separable, but not separated, asserted at
the North-Atlantic Council in Berlin (June
1996) are meant to avoid these problems.
At least in the beginning, Romanians
saw the accession to NATO as a factor of
economic progress and joining the EU as a
security guarantee, using two terms: European
integration and/or Euro-Atlantic integration.
The reflection of these two subjects in the
public opinion and Romanian politics has
known sinuous contra-timing evolutions,
rarely having the same intensity. They
advanced initially in a slow but continuous
rhythm, experiencing a stage of necessary
signatures on important documents, for
example the Association Agreement and
the Partnership for Peace. The fact that
Romania was the first country signing this
partnership, in January 1994, marked the
first top moment in the discussions
concerning Euro-Atlantic integration.
After NATO-1994 the interest in
integration into the EU become prioritary.
In 1995 the Association Agreement came
into force and the National Strategy for
Preparing Romania's Accession to the EU
(which we can call Snagov I by analogy
with the one from 2000) was adopted. Not
only that the negotiation place is common,
but also the coordinator of the elaboration
process (the academician Tudorel Postolache)
and the way of showing the general
support of the parliamentary political
spectrum through a political statement are
the same
40
. In 1995 Romania's president
participated for the first time in the
European Council in Cannes, together with
his counterparts from candidate states
41
.
The accession to EU and NATO are
two components of the national interest, so
convincingly expressed by the public
opinion and political class that there is no
need to be reaffirmed, two sides acting
alternatively. Valentin Stan considered that
the fact of Romania's integration into EU
and NATO being an essential objective of
the present political generation is a truism.
He also brings forward the complementarity
of these two processes and considers that
neglecting the relation of interconditionality
between NATO and EU expansion is one
of the most persistent errors of the
governments both before and after 1996
42
.
Moreover, he thinks that Romania's
leadership wrongly built separate strategies
for NATO accession and EU integration.
Agenda 2000, a very important study
on EU expansion, finished by the European
Commission in 1997, shows very clearly
that, although they are autonomous processes,
there are important connections between
EU and NATO expansion. This specification
was made in the context of the appearance
of DSEI idea. But Western leaders repeatedly
emphasized that the fact of not being
invited to one of these two organizations
did not automatically involve getting
compensations in the process of adhesion
to the other.
It was said that Romania and
Romanians have a very developed sense of
imminent political changes, especially in
the foreign policy because a complex
history during which Romanians took
ROMANIAN POLITICS

15
advantage of the conflicts between their
powerful neighbors in order to achieve their
local political interests would have made
them very sensitive to the progressing
change of the force relation between
America and the EU
43
.
As any other South-Eastern European
country, Romania was and still is in
dilemma between the EU and the USA.
The Iraq War from Spring 2003 confirmed
once more this situation in which Romania
has been for more than a decade: Has she
be on the USA's side and, thus, feel as
being a part of the new Europe or adhere
to the position of Germany and France and
then be considered as the old Europe?
44
.
More and more authorized voices
affirm that the geopolitical and geo-
strategical realities of the beginning of 21
st

century require the abandonment of what
the USA did for Europe type of thinking
and the acceptance of what the USA will
be able to do together with Europe model
45
.
The NATO membership still remains
the basis of security in the Atlantic area but
the integration into EU will transform
Romania into a component part of the
most proeficient system of economical and
political construction known in history
46
.
Taking into account its population and
geographical dimensions, Romania is the
seventh country of an European Union
with 27 members but, at the same time, it
is one of those member states with a low
standard of living, less efficient agricultural
and food processing sectors, high rate of
unemployment, a state of poverty of most
of the people. On the other hand, becoming
a member state of the EU signifies that
Romania will become a stability factor for
the whole Balkan space. Romania's inclusion
in the category of EU's large states and
maintaining this position means the
identifying of those possibilities of alliance
with EU member states, which should
enable us to achieve our objectives
through obtaining the support of the states
with similar or close interests in order to
obtain together the qualified majority
needed for adopting the desired decision
inside EU Council
47
. It is equally important
the building of alliances inside the
European Parliament, taking into consideration
the tendency of giving it a status of absolute
equality to the Council in their capacity of
co-legislators.
Member states' interests coagulate
around two cores: the group of great
countries, dominated by French-German
coalition, and the group of small countries,
aware of the fact that the former want to
form a directorate of the great ones.
Trying to counteract this tendency, the
small states intend to create alliances with
medium size countries such as Romania,
especially because the present vote system
inside the EU Council does not allow the
constitution of a distinct category of
middle states. The criteria on the basis of
which these alliances are formed are: the
coincidence of their interests, geographical
proximity, territorial dimensions, population.
Depending on these criteria, two categories
of alliances rise at different levels
regional and European level, but it has to
be taken into account the fact that A
regional alliance may be sufficient for
developing transport networks in Eastern
Europe, but an European alliance will be
needed for the policy of allotting structural
funds or for promoting certain priorities in
the European security strategy
48
.
Right after the joining moment, it
becomes extremely necessary to survey
the benefits and costs generated by the
status of EU member. Thus, the costs
related to the increase of competitiveness
in different sectors of national economy,
especially in agriculture, the infrastructure
modernization, the adopting of community
norms and policies, the observing and
implementing of European standards are
ROMANIAN POLITICS


16
high enough. Through adopting the trade
policy, Romania had more to lose than
gain in its relation with third countries
because, as EU member state, it was
deprived of the status of developing country
and the right to benefit from customs
preferences by developed countries (such
as USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, New
Zealand)
49
. As regards integration benefits,
the most important are Romania's access
to important community funds (especially
for agriculture and regional development),
reforms acceleration, support for the
transition to market economy, joining the
common market. However, benefits are
diminished by costs and discovering the
existence of a bill will start to create a
pressure on the citizens and even a
reaction of rejection if the effects and costs
of integration are not transparent
50
. But,
taking into account that integration costs
are in fact the costs of Romania's
modernization, absolutely necessary, we
consider that the efforts made for
integration are profitable for Romania, and
the joining perspective was the objective
that Romania needed to achieve in this
transitional period
51
.
Both the competence and the loyalty
to the Union will be asserted by Romania
when it will make its choice for the
adoption of the European Constitution.
The presence of the mentality of nation-
state's absolute sovereignty, the modification
of Romania's Constitution in 2003, but,
especially the perpetuation of nationalist
ambitions and vanities have led to the
uncertainty of what Romania would do
after becoming a EU member state. The
modality of expressing itself in the concert
of the new Europe will certainly be an act
of loyalty, competence and political
maturity.

otes
1
Theo Hitiris, European Union Economics, 4
th

edition, Prentice Hall, 1998, p. 39.
2
Ibidem.
3
Desmond Dinan, Encyclopedia of The European
Union, MACMILLAN, 2000, p. 279-280.
4
Ibidem, p. 280.
5
Ibidem, p. 278.
6
Theo Hitiris, op. cit., p. 40.
7
Romania and the European Union. Historic
Chronology, Romanian Academy, The Institute
of Political Science and International Relations
Publishing House, Bucharest, 2004, p. 7.
8
Costel Glc, European and Social Law
Guide, Rosetti Publishing House, Bucharest,
2005, p. 215.
9
Cezar Avram, Roxana Radu, Adela Lupu, The
Evolution of the Concept of Sovereignty, in
The Revue of Socio-Human Studies nr. 4-
5/2004, Romanian Academy, The C.S.
Nicolescu Plopor Institute of Socio-Human
Research, p. 107.
10
See also Victor Duculescu, Constana
Clinoiu, Georgeta Duculescu, Comparative
Constitutional Law, second edition, Lumina Lex
Publishing, Bucharest, 1999, vol. I, p. 404-405.
11
The Constitution of Germany stipulates, in
article 24, that The Federation may, by
legislation, transfer sovereign powers to
international institutions. For the maintenance
of peace, the Federation may join a system of
mutual collective security; in doing so it will
consent to such limitations upon its sovereign
powers as will bring about and secure a
peaceful and lasting order in Europe and
among the nations of the world.
12
See also Genoveva Vrabie,

European
Integration and State Sovereignty, www.ccr.ro.
13
Octavian Manolache, Community Law, All
Beck Publishing House, Bucharest, 1995, p. 42.
14
Victor Duculescu, Ruxandra Adam, op. cit.,
p. 19.
15
See also Dorina Nstase, Mihai Mtie, op.
cit., http://studint.ong.ro.
16
See also Genoveva Vrabie, cited work,
www.ccr.ro.
17
Jean-Victor Louis, L'ordre juridique
communautaire, Perspectives Europennes,
6
eme
dition, 1993, p. 15, cited in Dan Claudiu
ROMANIAN POLITICS

17
Dnior, Actors of political life, Sitech
Publishing House, Craiova, 2003, p. 221.
18
For details, see also Dorina Nstase, Mihai
Mtie, op. cit., http://studint.ong.ro.
19
Ioan Vida, Constitution's Revisal and
Romania's Integration into the Euro-Atlantic
Structures, www.ccr.ro.
20
Cristina Iliescu, Ruxandra Ionescu, The
Adaptation of the Sovereignty Concept in the
Perspective of European Integration,
http://www.colegejuridique.ro/files/c/2/ref.
21
Dorina Nstase, Mihai Mtie, The Future of
Romania's ational Sovereignty in the Perspective
of European Integration, http://studint.ong.ro.
22
The Decision nr. 148 from 16
th
April 2003 of
Romania's Constitutional Court concerning the
constitutionality of the legislative proposal of
revising Romania's Constitution, cited in Victor
Duculescu, Ruxandra Adam, Romanian ational
Raport Regarding the Impact of the Accession
to the European Union on Romania's Juridical
Order, The Romanian Revue of Community
Law nr. 4/2004, p. 17-18.
23
Bogdan Aurescu, The ew Sovereignty, All Beck
Publishing House, Bucharest, 2003, p. 160-161.
24
Gabriel Andreescu, Adrian Severin, A Romanian
Concept on Federal Europe, in A Romanian
Concept on the Future of the European Union,
Polirom Publishing, Iai, 2001, p. 51.
25
Ovidiu inca, The Aplication of the
Subsidiarity Principle in the European
Community, in The Romanian Revue of
Community Law nr. 2/2003, p. 41.
26
Bianca Maria Carmen Predescu, Ion Predescu,
Aristide Roibu, The Principle of Subsidiarity, p. 21.
27
See also Pierre le Mire, Droit de l'Union
europenne et politiques communes, Dalloz, Paris,
2001, p. 247-253; Marianne Dony, Droit de la
Communaut et de l'Union europenne, ditions
de l'Universit de Bruxelles, 2001, p. 97-100.
28
Article 5 (ex-article 3B) of the Maastricht Treaty
.

29
C. Boutayeb, Dictionnaire juridique des
Communautes europennes, PUF, 1993, p.
1033-1034.
30
See also Valentin Constantin, Open Subjects
on European Integration, http://studint.ong.ro.
31
Desmond Dinan, Encyclopedia of The
European Union, MACMILLAN, 2000, p. 219.
32
See also Luciana-Alexandra Ghic (coord.),
Encyclopedia of The European Union, Meronia
33
Hugues Portelli, Les rgimes politiques
europens, Librairie Gnrale Francaise, 1994, p.
160-162.
34
Ibidem, p. 161.
35
Jean-Louis Dufour, International Crisis.
From Beijing (1900) to Kosovo (1999), Corint
36
See also Elizabeth Pond, The Rebirth of
Europe, Pandora-M Publishing House,
Trgovite, 2003, p. 76-81.
37
Ibidem, p. 204.
38
Marianne Dony, Droit de la Communaut et
de l'Union europenne, ditions de
l'Universit de Bruxelles, 2001, p. 283.
39
Petre Anghel, European Institutions and
egociation Technics in the Process of Integration,
http://www.unibuc.ro/eBooks/StiintePOL/anghel
/8.htm.
40
From Essen to Cannes. The Itinerary of the
Romanian Strategy of European Integration,
Romanian Academy, 1995.
41
Romania and the European Union. Historic
Chronology, Romanian Academy, The Institute
of Political Science and International Relations
42
Valentin Stan, ATO and EU: the Dilemmas of
Expansion, in Foreign Politics nr. 3-4/1997, p. 17.
43
Robert D. Kaplan, A ew (Willing) Ally in Europe,
New York Times, 10 November 2002, cited in Petre
Anghel, op. cit., http://www.unibuc.ro.
44
Petre Anghel, op. cit., http://www.unibuc.ro.
45
Mircea Cosma, Teofil Ispas, Romania's
Integration into the European and Euro-
Atlantic Structures, Terrestrial Forces
Academy, Sibiu, 2002, p. 44.
46
Ion Jinga, Romania's Profile in the European
Union, in The Romanian Revue of Community
Law nr. 1/2005, p. 11.
47
Ibidem, p. 13.
48
Ibidem, p. 14.
49
Fota Constantin, Romania's Integration into
the European Union, Universitaria Publishing
House, Craiova, 2005, p. 169.
50
Emilian M. Dobrescu, How Much Does
Integration Cost Us?, in Euroconsultancy.
Firm's Guide nr. 1/2005, p. 8.
51
See also Emma Dsclescu, Juridical
Aspects of Romania's Integration in the World
and European Economy, in The Romanian
Revue of Community Law nr. 4/2004, p. 71.

ROMANIAN POLITICS


18

Fundamental Changes in Romanian Trade Policy
after the Accession to the European Union

Elena TOB, Dalia SIMIO

Rsum: Larticle prsente les changements arrivs dans la politique
commerciale roumaine grce a ladoption des principes fondamentaux du march
unique europen: la libre circuliation des personnes, des biens et services, des
capitaux, les droits de proprit intelectuelle et industrielle etc.
Wordkeys: Integration, Common Policies, Free Turnover, Free Movement.

he adoption of EU trade policy by
Romanian on multilateral, interregional,
regional and bilateral plan in its
relations with third countries outside the
community inevitably brings important
changes in our countrys foreign trade
policy
1
starting from 1
st
of January 2007,
in the following directions:
a. absolute deregulation of Romanian
trade with EU;
b. alignment of custom duties in our
country, towards the third countries, to
the ones in EU, which generally
implies custom duties to a level sensible
reduced toward the third countries
compared to the level of custom duties
in Romania, especially for the
industrial products;
c. adjustment with the EU agreements to
OMC in the field of trading with goods
and services;
d. accession to the OMC Agreement
regarding the public purchase;
e. transformation of Romanian from a
country beneficiary of SGP in a grantor
country of custom preferences;
f. retreat from the Global System of
Trading Preferences (GSTP) between
developing country and from the
Protocol of 16 developing countries,
by abrogation of preferential trading
agreements with third countries and of
other agreements concluded with these
countries or to adjust them to the
community aquis;
g. hold up the status of developing
country and, as a consequence the
advantages Romania beneficiates from
in the field of trading policy, in the
virtue of this status; this fact also
imply the retreat of Romania from the
group of unofficial developing countries
from OMC and from the Group of 77
developing countries which acts in UN;
h. etreat of Romania from agreements
with CEFTA, AELS from the free
trading agreements concluded with
Turkey, Israel, from the free trading
T
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Fundamental Changes in Romanian Trade Policy after the Accession to the European Union

19
agreements with the countries from
the Western Balkans, in case it concluded
any agreements with these countries;
i. because EU did not concluded a free
trade agreement with Moldavian Republic
until the date of Romanian accession
to EU, starting from 1
st
of January 2007
the free trade agreement between Romania
and Moldavian Republic had been
terminated;
j. participation of Romania to EU preferential
and non-preferential trading agreements:
- accession of Romania to the
European Economic Space (EES),
to which EU and Ireland,
Liechtenstein and Norway participate;
- participation to the preferential
agreements of Euro-Mediterranean
partnership and to the partnership
between EU and African countries,
Caribbean and Pacific (ACP);
- access of Romania to free trade
agreements between EU and
countries from Latin America,
Persian Gulf and other countries
with which EU will conclude
such agreements.
Starting with 1
st
of January 2007,
Romania adhered to EU, in this way being
eliminated the last restrictions from the
mutual trade with goods with the member
countries of EU (this is about the fact that
from 1
st
of January 2002 had been
deregulated the trade with industrial
products, and now had been deregulated
the trade with agricultural products).
To create a single market represents
the essence of European Union, consisting
in turnover of goods, services, capital and
people between the member countries. So,
it reach the situation that, by the four free
turnovers between the countries member
of EU, to form a single market where the
turnover is similar to the one developed in
one country; as a result of eliminating the
obstacles and opening the national
markets, the exporters from the countries
member of EU succeeded to have free
access to a market which reaches almost
500 millions consumers.
The single market was realized by
adopting numerous Directives by the
institutions in EU, where had been removed
the technical barriers, the bureaucratic
laws and protective and non-protective
tariff laws of the member countries and it
was established the free trade and free
movement insidee the European Union.
The fundamental principles of the EU
single market which Romania compels to
respect are:
1. Free turnover. Starting from the 1
st

of January 2007, Romania adhered to EU,
in this way being eliminated the last
restriction from the mutual trade with
goods with the countries member of EU
(this is about the fact that from 1
st
of
January 2002 had been deregulated the
trade with industrial products, and now
had been deregulated the trade with
agricultural products).
The single market allowed a
development of competition between the
companies inside the countries member of
EU in the benefit of the consumers,
because the offer of goods and services
had been on one hand, bigger, and on the
other hand the prices decreased.
Inside the single market, the free
turnover is based on the mutual recognition
principle of single market. This consists in
a free turnover for the goods and services
of one member country into other member
countries, even though these are manufactured
after different quality regulations and
standards having the condition to strictly
observe the regulation of common interest
regarding the public health, environmental
protection and consumerism.
A second principle which functions
generally inside the single market is the
principle of origin regulation. In this case
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Elena Tob, Dalia Simion


20
had been created some detailed regulation
at the level of EU with the strict
observance of local regional and national
customs, which make available the diversity
of products and services and the economical
integration.
The way of respecting these principles
by the member countries is being monitor
by the European Committee which draws
up evaluation reports every two years, by
which it held conscious the member
countries about the existent problems and
of the imposed solutions.
Regarding the application of these
principles are aimed both individual
citizens and also the economic operators.
The actions are developed in two
directions: one at the European Committee
level, and the second one at the member
countries level.
The plan of actions at the European
Committee level, first of all, takes into
consideration the elaboration of a Guide
concerning the principle of mutual
recognition in the area of industrial
products and of an explanative brochure
for the application of Decision no 3052/95
regarding the derogatory measures from
the principle of free turnover.
The plan of actions at the member
countries level, which implements in practice
the principle of mutual recognition, foresees
among other measure the inclusion of
principle of mutual recognition in the
national legislation, the strengthening of
the cooperation between the national
administrations from the member countries,
and also the preparation of periodic reports
containing the implementation problems
and the possible solutions.
Beginning with 1
st
of January 2007,
since Romania became a country member
of the European Union and part of the
Single Market, the custom boundaries
between the member states disappeared
and, as a result, there are no customs
clearance (declarations) used as data
source to realize the statistics regarding the
intra-community trade. For replacing this
data source, inside EU, instead of former
customs clearance, it is used a series of
additional declarations which the company
have the obligation to depose regarding the
intra-community transactions performed
(for example, the declaration of statistics
Intra-state). In this way it had been created
and developed a statistic system for
collecting the information directly from
the companies which realize trading
activities with countries member of EU.
The goods which arrive into a member
state are called intra-community acquisitions,
and the goods which leave a state member
of EU having the destination to another
state member of the EU are called intra-
community delivery. So, the statistics of
intra-community trade is called INTRA-
STATE.
2. Free turnover of services. Services
are of critical importance for the common
internal market of EU, because they
represent between 60% and 70% of the
economic activity of EU-25 and
approximate the same percentage in the
manpower occupied by EU-25.
The principle which governs the
internal market of services has been
generally called the principle of fundamental
liberty and has been regulated in the European
Community Treaty. According to this principle,
the companies having the headquarters in a
member state hold the freedom to establish
and offer services inside the area of other
member countries. The principle of free
turnover of services developed along the
time thorough Decisions of European Court
of Justice and by regulations specialized
on fields, as: financial services, tele-
communications, emissions and recognition of
professional qualifications.
With all these regulations in the field
of free turnover of services it has not been
ROMANIAN POLITICS

21
reached the level of performances at the
level of turnover of goods. The Summit in
Lisbon (March 2000) marked off the task
for the elaboration of a strategy to eliminate
the barriers which hold back the free
turnover of services. It is to be noted the
suppliers with services rather than big companies.
Taking into account that the small
companies are upmost, in January 2004,
the Committee promoted the Directive
concerning the Services on the internal
market of EU. This document has as
objective to eliminate the discriminatory
barriers, to modernize the legal and
administrative frame, inclusively in the
field of information technology services
(IT), and to determine the member countries
to cooperate more and systematically. The
document consolidates in the same time
the users rights.
According to the Committee, in the
last 10 years, the benefits of free turnover
of services - created over 2,5 millions jobs
and registered incomes over 900 billion
euro. In the same time, it was noted that
the competition developed, which led to an
increase of quality and range of services
and to the convergence of prices.
The Treaty of Romania adhesion to
the European Union stipulates in Chapter 3
The free turnover of services for a period
of transition of 5 years for transporting the
Directive no 97/9/CE regarding the charts
of compensating the investors.
So, by derogation from the article 4,
paragraph (1) from the Directive no 97/9/
CE, the minimum quantum of compensation
(20.000 euro) is not applied in Romania
until 11
th
of December 2011. Romania
ensures that its compensatory system for
investors foresees a compensation of with
a minimum value of 4.500 euro from 1
st
of
January 2007 until 31

of December 2007,
of minimum of 7.000 euro from 1
st
of
January 2008 until 31 of December 2008,
of minimum 9.000 euro from 1
st
of
January 2009 until 31 of December 2009,
of minimum 11.000 euro from 1
st
of
January 2010 until 31 of December 2010
and of minimum 15.000 euro from 1
st
of
January 2011 until 31 of December 2011.
3. Free turnover of capital. The
principle of free turnover of capital is one
of the four basic principles established by
European Community Treaty (article 677)
from 1957. According to the European
Community the free turnover of the capital
makes possible the integration, de opening,
the competition and the efficiency on the
financial market and of services and brings
more benefits to all parties. For the citizen,
the free turnover of capital means the
ability to perform more operations outside
the borders, respectively opening of bank
accounts, to pick up shares of foreign
companies, investments in the areas which
bring the biggest profit and the most
advantageous real estate transactions. For
companies, this principle means that they
have the right to invest in foreign
companies and to take part in their
management.
In practice, the free turnover of capital
began in 1990, as a result of adoption of
Directive 88/361/EEC, which foresees the
elimination of control authorities of a
member country over the citizens or
companies of another member country
who wish to invest. The free turnover of
capital was set solid by adopting the
Maastricht Treaty from 1993, where all
restrictions regarding the free turnover of
capital and payments were eliminated
between the member countries, but also
between the members and third countries.
With this treaty it is considered that the
field of free turnover of capital the
legislation is complete.
After adoption of Maastricht Treaty,
also other countries outside the EU area
adopted the principle of free turnover of
capital, even in cases when some countries
ROMANIAN POLITICS


22
requested period of transitions regarding
the foreign citizens right to buy a second
house or land. The principle of free
turnover of capital initiated by EU opened
the way for cooperation in the area of
capital policy and payments at the
international level.
There are some exceptions concerning
the free turnover of capital both inside the
EU, and also with third countries which
concern the areas of: taxes, prudent
supervision, considerations of public policy,
money laundering and financial sanctions
which make the scope of external Policy
and Common Safety. On these subjects,
the Committee communicates with the
national monitoring authorities to assure
the correct appliance of these exceptions,
and where there are misunderstandings;
EU requests the support of European
Court of Justice. The Committee considers
necessary to monitor the activities specific
to free turnover of capital in the scope of
identification of eventual barriers and
restrictions inside EU, and also to improve
the fields which are moving slowly.
The Treaty of Romania adhesion to
the European Union foreseen in Chapter 4
Free turnover of capitals:
a period of transition of 7 years to
purchase land, forests and lads with forest
by the EU citizens inside the European
Economic Space (EES);
a period of transition of 5 years for the
right to purchase a property for secondary
residence.
4. Electronic commerce. The development
of electronic commerce (e-commerce) is
one of the key factors in the effort to make
the EU the most competitive and dynamic
economy in the world based on knowledge.
The legal frame for the e-commerce inside
the EU market is established by the
Directive regarding the electronic commerce
2000/31/EC (COM (97) 157 final) (COM
(2003) 259, the Directive regarding the
electronic signature, the Directive 2002
/38/EC and the Committee Communicate
(COM (1998) 374 not published in the
Official Journal) regarding the tax on
electronic transactions.
The Directive 2003/31/EC regarding
the electronic commerce eliminated the
obstacles for free turnover of online
services on the internal market of EU and
it forms the legal background for
businesses and consumers. The Directive
establishes adjusted regulations concerning
the transparency and informational requests
of the suppliers of online services,
commercial communications, electronic
contracts and limitations of the suppliers
obligations for Internet services (ISP). The
Directive covers all the category of
services of the informational society, as for
example: services between companies;
services between companies and users; the
free services supplied to users, the ones
supplied for money or financed, as
advertisements and the sponsored ones;
services which allow electronic transactions
(distant interactive sale of products and
services and purchasing centers).
The areas and online activities
covered by the Directive regarding the e-
commerce are: online papers, data base,
financial services, professional services
(lawyers, medical, accountants, real estate
agents), services for relaxation (video etc.),
advertisement and direct advertising intermediary
services (access to Internet, transmission
and keeping of information).
The effective operation of e-commerce
on the internal EU market is assured by the
clause of the internal market, which means
that services of the informational societies
are, basically, subject to the regulations of
member countries.
The Directive concerning the consume
tax (VAT) for electronic commerce
businesses abroad foresees that the
ROMANIAN POLITICS

23
imposing of these businesses is applied
according to the laws in the respective
country where the consume takes place,
and the supply of digital products will not
be considered as delivery of goods.
5. The companies law. The adjustment
of regulations concerning the management
of companies, of accountancy and audit is
essential to create a single market in the
area of turnover of goods and financial
services.
The objectives of companies law are
the shareholders protection and of contracting
parties with companies; to assure the freedom
to create companies on the entire territory
of EU; to institute the principle of
competitiveness and efficiency in business;
promotion of cooperation between different
member states and simulation of dialog
between the member countries with regard
to the modernization of the companies law.
The Treaty of Rome, which in 2007
makes 50 years from its conclusion,
mentions the following principles:
the companies are mutually recognized
in all member countries;
the companies created legally in a
member state will not be requested for
formalities by other member state, except
the ones that are usually requested to
national companies.
Adjustment of legislation was
performed gradually, based on the specific
adopted Directives.
By others action plans, the European
Committee explains the necessity to
elaborate some new initiatives to modernize
the existent legislation or to complete it,
due to the following reasons: in order to
create a better internal market; to create an
integrated market of capital; to maximize
the benefits by applying the modern
technologies which introduce the use of
electronic means, as compulsory regulations
when creating certain types of companies;
for the success of development and to face
the changes imposed by recent evolutions.
6. Public purchase. The percentage of
public purchase (assets, services and
public works) inside the EU is estimated to
16% of the EU PIB (approximate 1.500
billion euro in 2002). At the level of
member state, the percentage is between
11% and 20% of their PIB. Taking into
consideration the important value of public
purchase both in the EU budget, and in the
member countries one, the European funds
are concerned to assure open and
transparent procedures to increase the
competition in the area of public purchase,
in the scope of reduction of the costs paid
by the governments and to increase the
economies for the tax payers.
The public purchases make the object
of EU regulations and international rules,
but not all public purchases are the subject
of these regulations. For example the
purchases of military equipments for
defense are excluded from these rules, but
they have to observe the provisions of the
international treaties in that area.
The number of Directives concerning
the public purchases was approved in year
2004 by the European Parliament and has
as scope to contribute to the simplification
and modernization of public purchasing
procedures, for example, by facilitating the
electronic purchases in the public domain.
The European Committee considers that
the rapid implementation of the new
Directive will contribute the increase of
transparency in the domain of public
purchases, will improve the operation of
the internal market and will allow the EU
to take advantage of the benefits of the
enlarged internal market.
7. Right to intellectual and industrial
property. Copyright and its associated rights,
trade mark, the designs and patents (right to
intellectual and industrial property) represent a
stimulant for creation and investments in
ROMANIAN POLITICS


24
new activities destined to development of
protected products (music, films, media published
products, broadcastings, etc.) and contribute to
the increase of competitiveness, of
employment places and of innovations.
Copyright is associated with important
cultural aspects, social and technical which
have to be taken into account when setting
out the policy in this area.
The Directive concerning the right to
intellectual and industrial property was
adopted in 2004. In a two years period, it
permitted the adjustment of national
regulations of member states of the EU, so
that the barriers have been reduced
regarding the free turnover on the internal
market of the EU and it was created the
background for new forms of exploitation
of the right of property.
Nowadays there are preoccupations
for adopting some complementary measures:
to consolidate the rights, as, for example,
the ones regarding the access to justice,
punishment of the law breakings and
remediation of the prejudices;
on the line of management and patent of
intellectual rights.
Copyright is of big importance for the
European Community, because it implies
media, culture and industries based on
knowledge. The development of industries
represents the performance indicative of a
post-industrial society, especially, for those
pertaining to the informational society. In
the year 2000, the copyright industry
contributed with over 1.200 billion euro to
the EU-15 economy and created an added
value of 450 billion euro (5,3% of the total
added value of EU-15) and 5,2 million of
jobs (3,1% of the manpower occupied in
the EU industry).
8. Free movement of people. The
possibility to work in any country of the EU
represents one of the four freedoms which
characterize the single market of EU.
In the list of transition periods included
in the adhesion Treaty of Romania to the
European Union, is mentioned in Chapter
2 The free movement of people a period
of transition of 2+3+2 years regarding the
free movement of Romanian workers.
Until the end of two years period after
the actual adhesion date the member
countries will apply measures of internal
law resulted from the bilateral agreements,
which limit the access of Romanian
citizens on the market of manpower from
each of these countries. The actual member
countries can continue to apply these
measures until the expiration of a 5 years
period after the adhesion date. At the end
of the 5 years period, a member state can
hold measures of internal law or measures
which result from the bilateral agreements
can continue to apply, in case when on the
market of manpower from that member
country has there is the risk to produce
severe disturbances, also after the
notification of the Committee, these
measures until the end of a 7 years period
from the adhesion date.
This clause is of big importance
concerning the demarche of Romania to
turn to profit, by competitive services, the
qualities of its citizens regarding the
academic and professional qualification in
any member countries of the European Union.
9. The contract law. The single
market offered the citizens, investors and
companies the possibility to implicate in
economic activities or in other activities on
the area of EU in similar conditions. In
case of purchasing goods or services, it is
necessary to conclude a contract where are
defined the conditions the transaction can
take place.
The Directives adopted on the line of
adjustment of legislation in the area of
contracts had as scope the elimination of
obstacles for the free turnover of products
and services. The substantial progress had
ROMANIAN POLITICS

25
been noted in the adjustment of contract
legislation in the areas of: electronic
commerce, banking and insurance, right to
intellectual and industrial property,
consumerism and SMB policy.
Nowadays there are concerns to
increase the degree of coherence of the
provisions of contract laws and in other
existent areas of activity or with
development perspectives, the European
Committee adopted an action plan in this
respect.

ROMANIAN POLITICS


26

Governments Role in Coordination of Decision-
Making Process

Mdlina VOICA

Rsum: Cet article discute le rle du Gouvernement dans la formulation
des politiques publiques. La premire partie prsente les fondements
constitutionnels et lgaux de ce rle. On analyse aussi la ncessit et la
procdure de ladoption du Programme de Gouvernement et limportance de
ce document-cadre pour le procs de formulation des politiques publiques.
Les acteurs internationaux ont soutenu la cration des structures
institutionnelles considres ncessaires dans cette direction: lUnit de
Politiques Publiques et les units homologues cres au niveau de chaque
ministre ou autre autorit de ladministration publique centrale. Larticle
conclut que la rforme dans la matire de la formulation des politiques
publiques a fait des des progrs importants, dont on peut voir les rsultats:
(i) elle offre aux membres du Gouvernement plus de possibilits de discuter
les alternatives stratgiques de la manire de concevoir les politiques; (ii)
elle renforce la qualit de lanalyse sur la base de laquelle on lobore les
politiques; (iii) elle assure la transparence decisionnelle, en offrant aux
citoyens la possibilit de participer ds le dbut aux discussions sur les
politiques publiques.
Keywords: Public Administration, Public Policy, Reform, Policy
Formulation, Governance Program.

ne of the ideas that seem to be
central to a discussion on post-
communist welfare reform is the
assumption that newly democracies needs
to significant developments in the public
policy management system. In Romania
public policy reform aimed to strengthening
the capacity of the Government to more
effectively deliver its political priorities as
well as to ensure better coordination for
public policy formulation.

Constitutional Framework of the
Governments role on coordination
of decision-making process
In its widest sense, the Government is
the ruling power in a political society. The
role of Government in the functionality of
a State has significantly evolved during the
democratic development. Government's
role has gone from providing basic
security to concern in religious affairs to
control of national economies and
eventually to providing lifelong social
security. As our societies have become
O
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Governments Role in Coordination of Decision-Making Process

27
more complex, governments have become
more complex and powerful. On classical
administrative law approach, especially in
democratic and republican forms, the most
noticeable work of Government is to
exercise the executive power of state as a
consequence the Government is seen as
the entity in charge with exercise of the
general management of public administration.
These reflections should make us cautious,
and by this study we would like to
highlight another major tasked on the
Government responsibility: decision-making
and coordination for public policy formulation.
On the other words, the Government
role goes beyond the responsibility to
maintain the peace of communal life by
coordinating the public administration
institution. The Government includes the
complex and difficult task to coordinate
the process of public policies formulation
by making important organizational decisions,
identification of different alternatives such
as programs or spending priorities, and
choosing among them on the basis of the
impact they will have. Policies
1
can be
understood as political, management,
financial, and administrative mechanisms
arranged to reach explicit goals.
According with Romanian Constitution
that regulates the Government Role and
structure in article of 102 that states: The
Government shall, in accordance with its
governance program accepted by Parliament,
ensure the implementation of the domestic
and foreign policy of the country, and
exercise the general management of public
administration.
Concluding over the normative
provisions the Constitution assigned the
Government with three key functions:
1. To elaborate the Governance Program.
2. To ensure the implementation of the
domestic and foreign policy of the
country, and
3. To exercise the general management
of public administration.
The first two responsibilities, listed
bellow, define the Government role in
decision-making and coordination for public
policy formulation. The public policy process
in Romania is at the beginning and in
practices exist different types of policy
documents such us: strategies, programs,
public policy proposals, plans, memorandums,
and information notes.
Legislative framework related to
public policy process, including the
government procedures for legislative
drafting and consultation is regulated by
following normative acts:
Laws:
o Law No.90 / 2001 (updated) on
Romanian Government and Ministries.
o Law No.24 /2000 (republished)
on legislative techniques.
o Law No.73 / 1993 (republished)
on Legislative Council.
o Law No.500 2002 on public
finance;
o Law No.52 /2003 on transparency
of decision making process;
o Law No 188 / 1999 the statute of
civil servants;
o Regulations of the Chamber of
Deputies.
Government Decisions
o Government Decision No.50/2005
on Government procedures for
drafting, endorsement and submission
of draft normative acts.
o Government Decision No.775/2005
on drafting, implementation and
evaluation of public policy at
central level.
o Government Decision No.750/
2005 on standing inter-ministerial
councils.
The Strategy for Accelerating the
Public Administration Reform 2004- 2006
defines the main initiatives to be developed
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Mdlina Voican


28
in the field of public policy making.
Problems in the field of public policy
process also has been analysed within
number of reports
2
of international
organizations and counterparts on policy
making and co-ordination in Romania
were taken into consideration.

Governance Program and policy
formulation
When working on a large and
multifaceted reform, newly elected parties
have to push forward reforms. The
Governance Program offer the Cabinet a
framework to summarize political goals
and objectives into a structured document,
as a mission statement /or a vision statement
for regular 4 years electoral cycle. As any
strategic planning document and decision
processes, the Governance Program should
reveal the objectives and the roadmap of
ways to achieve those objectives that the
Government engages for.
The Cabinet (Government) is headed
by Prime Minister and comprises a
variable number of persons
3
, usually 12 to
20 persons. The Prime Minister candidate
is nominated by the state president. Once
nominated, the candidate for the Prime
Minister Portfolio forms the Cabinet and
elaborates the Governance Program. In
order to get the official empowerment the
Parliament endorsement is needed. The
candidate for Prime Minister position
engages political responsibility for both the
Cabinet team and their strategic planning
activity, synthesized on Governance Program.
The Parliament examine, as whole, the
Governance Program and the Cabinet
composition. If consented, the Parliament
vote and empower both the Cabinet and
their declared mission statement- the
Governance Program. Once approved and
accepted by the Parliament the Governance
Program became a compulsory official
document, which offers the general
framework for further specific public
policies proposals.
Governance Program is the basic
strategic planning document that allows
the newly appointed Cabinet Government
members opportunity to impose their
specific policies. By Governance Program
the newly party in power define its
strategy/direction, in making decisions on
allocating its resources to pursue this
strategy, including its capital and people.
As a Strategic Planning document that
shapes the form of new governance for the
next 4 years period of time, the Governance
Program is the formal consideration of the
Governments future course. All strategic
planning documents deal with at least one
of three key questions:
1. "What do we do?"
2. "For whom do we do it?"
3. "How do we excel?"
By the Governance Program the party
or coalition of parties that won the
elections often take opportunities to shape
economic policies for their own electoral
benefits and accordingly with their doctrinal
theses. For example, a left wing party in a
government might adjust policy to social
measures, so purer layers of society would
see that government as a friend. The right
wing politicians and governors would
maintain laws that reinforce companies
rights and powers, so entrepreneurships
would see a right wing government as a
friend. Depending on the nature of the
measures predicted in the Governance
Program, naturally, the exploited persons
in these situations may see government
very differently.
After the stage on which the
Parliament approved Government priorities
formulated in the Governance Program,
those provisions has to be considered as
priority tasks for line ministries to develop
public policies, draft normative acts or
ROMANIAN POLITICS

29
ensure other activities in shorter terms,
with clearly defined results.
What is a public policy? There is a
lack of a consensus on the definition of
public policy. One of the definition
proposed by professor Heckathorn states
that a public policy is a deliberate plan of
action to guide decisions and achieve
rational outcome(s)
4
. Consequently, a public
policy proposal is a policy document
intended for solving specific policy problems
in case if there are several possible alternatives
or there is a need for a conceptual
agreement on the essence of the normative
regulation
5
. There could be one or several
normative acts that derive from one public
policy proposal. We would like to
underline that a policy differs from rules or
law. A law can be one of the outcomes of
a public policy document. While law can
compel or prohibit behaviors (e.g. a law
requiring the payment of taxes on income)
policy merely guides actions toward those
that are most likely to achieve a desired
outcome.

Institutional infrastructure for
coordination of public policy
formulation
To ensure the functionality of the
system of public policy formulation it was
necessary to build up an institutional
infrastructure. Starting with 2003 there
were several significant developments in
the policy management system.
General public administration reform
in Romania was supported by several
international actors this is why the
international influence on public policy
process came in various forms and a
varying degree impact. First ideas on
public policy reform were put foreword by
the European Union and indirectly
encouraged in country assessments.
The World Bank funded international
consultants to work with the reformers,
most significantly the Central Unit for
Public Administration Reform and Prime
Minister Chancellery on developing institutional
infrastructure and the legislation for Public
Policy Reform.
OECD_SIGMAs
6
preliminary review
of Center of Government institutions and
practices suggested that it may be possible
to build on some existing ad hoc
arrangements that appear to be ensuring
reasonable vetting of policy proposals in
the area of European Integration. Consistent
with SIGMAs preliminary findings, The
World Bank has proposed building on
precisely those same ad hoc practices,
converting them, over time, into formal,
standing sub-committees of Cabinet
(Government), and gradually creating
similar sub-committees for each of the
most important and enduring broad policy
areas. The special discipline of planning
was unified and transferred from the 11
sub-comities to only one: Strategic
Planning Council
7
.
Strategic Planning Council was
established to monitor the implementation
of priority tasks. In that case the templates
and reporting system was defined by
Strategic Planning Council. The Strategic
Planning Council is not an administrative
body, but acts more as an ad-hoc committee.
In practice the Council performs the
function of ensuring harmonization and
coordination among political layers of the
ministries involved in decision making
process.
Among first institutional measures
intended to capacity building was the
setting up the Public Policy Unit (PPU) in
the General Secretariat of the Government
(GSG) and staffing this unit with young
and qualified specialists. As one of the
departments that make up the Chancellery
of Prime Minister, the seat of the PPU is at
the Government office. The PPU was
established by a Government Ordinance
ROMANIAN POLITICS
Mdlina Voican


30
and its organizational structure consists of
a body of civil servants coordinated by a
Secretary of state. PPU was established in
2003 to provide coordination to PPU
counterpart units in the line ministries.
By establishing of the PPU
counterpart units in the line ministries,
representatives of Public Policy Unit of the
General Secretariat of the Government on
brainstorming sessions and workshop
discussions with counterpart representatives
of centre of Government institutions and
line ministries can assure the implementation
of Government priority tasks through
public policies documents.
Through adoption of the regulations
regarding the procedures for designing,
implementation and evaluation of public
policy at central level the PPU ensures that
all ministries will comply the requirements
to develop public policy proposals in a
specific format for all major legal acts
prior to their drafting. In respect of
building an unitary practice, the PPU of
GSG has also prepared The Public Policy
Manual
8
to assist ministries in working
with the new regulation.
International influence on the Public
Policy Reform came in a more direct form
through formulation of the Strategy for
improving the public policy planning and
formulation system at central level, that
was prepared within the PHARE
Twinning PROJECT RO2003/IB/OT/ 10,
2003/005-551.03.03 Strengthening the
Romanian Governments capacity for
policy management and coordination and
for decision-making together with
representatives of Public Policy Unit of the
General secretariat of the Government of
Romania.
All these infrastructure and regulatory
measures have aimed to strengthening the
capacity of the Government to more
effectively deliver its political priorities as
well as to ensure better regulatory
environment.

Conclusions
Over the last 5 years, the Romanian
Government role on policy making and
administrative accountability evolved and
have a significant impact by both improving
the predictability and effectiveness of
government policies and by bringing
transparency and accountability to public
life.
The Public Policy Reform reached its
aims by following achievements:
i. Increase effectiveness of government
policies by giving members of Government
greater opportunity at an earlier stage to
discuss strategic alternatives in the
design of policies. Gradually ad-hoc
practices on policy formulation were
adapted, over time, into formal structures
such as: Strategic Planning Council and
Public Policies Unit.
ii. Strengthen the quality of analysis upon
which policies are built. Conforming to
the reform improvements, the procedure
for legislative solutions was changed to
policy decision making, based on policy
documents. Adoption of new procedures
for policymaking, agreed with international
assistance actors, based on Public Policy
Strategy allows appending estimates of
the budgetary and other impacts.
Besides that the content of substantiation
note shall include budgetary impact
assessment, the Government has the
mandate to issue a methodological
norms regarding impact assessment of
draft normative acts
iii. Ensure transparency on decision making
process by opening and distributing all
draft normative acts for public comment.
New procedures for policymaking give
stakeholders greater opportunity at an
earlier stage to participate in policy
discussion
ROMANIAN POLITICS

31
Acronyms:
CUPAR - Central Unit for Public
Administration Reform
PPU - Public Policies Unit
GSG - General Secretariat of the
Government

otes
1
see McCool, Daniel C. Public Policy
Theories, Models, and Concepts: An
Anthology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice Hall, 1995, p. 4.
2
European Commission Comprehensive
Monitoring Report on Romania, Brussels
25, October 2005, SEC (2005) 1354
1
and
Assessment report of SIGMA, 2005.
3
Cabinet members must be persons of the
highest reputation, known for heir high
morality, integrity and competence in the
specific field.

4
Heckathorn, D., Maser, S., The
Contractual Architecture of Public Policy:
A Critical Reconstruction of Lowi's
Typology, The Journal of Politics 52 (4),
1990, pp. 1101-1123.
5
***, The Public Policy Manual, Public
Policy Unit of the General Secretariat of the
Government, 2006, p. 3.
6
Sigma Report: Romania Policy-Making
And Co-Ordination Assessment July 2004;
Sigma Report: http://www.oecd.org/data
oecd/ 40/12/34990425.pdf
7
The functions and role of Strategic
Planning Council is defined by GD No.
750/2005.
8
SGG, Strategy for improving the public
policy planning and formulation system at
central level, http://www.sgg.ro/docs/File
/UPP/doc/STRATEGIEpoliticipublice.pdf

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS


32

Russia and the Binominal of Power

Ion DEACOESCU

Rsum: La Russie est la principale victime de limplosion du systme
communiste et de la fin de la Guerre froide, tandis que les Etats Unis en sont
le principal bnficiaire. Aujourdhui le gouvernement de Moscou fait des
efforts considrables pour regagner ses positions et pour refaire lancien
binme du pouvoir.
Keywords: Globalization, International System, Leadership, Superpower.

t has become more and more obvious
that Russia has already begun to put to
practice its plan to recover a clear
position in the international relations
system and to re-acquire the role it once
held within the balance of world power.
The transition phase following 1990 has
triggered off other types of equilibriums in
the world, but also obvious blending in the
relations among states, once extremely
complicated, in the world geopolitics,
which have facilitated the economic
globalization, as well as the switch in the
sense of current history (the highways of
information, the financial markets, the
escalation of terrorism, the religious
extremism etc.).
One is familiar with the fact that
economic power imposes the military
power, which can become, in some
circumstances, a real factor of power in the
international system.
Russia has lost the most, following the
implosion of the communist system and
the end of the Cold War, situation from
which the United States have taken
maximum advantage, thus becoming a
world superpower. At present, Moscow
makes considerable efforts to recover this
gap and to re-establish the former USA-
USSR binominal, as well as the monopoly
of the political agenda through which to
determine new subjects and actions in the
current international political life.
However, the role of leadership now
imposes a new type of behavior in the
arena of international relations, and Russia
is more and more active in another type of
politics, especially energetic and military,
looking to retrace some favorable
coordinates on geographic areas as wide as
possible. Some recent approaches
demonstrate this vision. The expedition led
by two Russian MPs, Arthur Cilingarov
and Vladimir Gruzdev, in the Arctic
Ocean, aimed at supporting Moscows
claim to the oil, gas and minerals in the
area, in virtue of the idea that the
Lomonosov Strip, a underwater formation
of over 1800 km, which unites Siberia and
Canada, represents the prolongation of
Russias continental platform and thus the
I
Russia and the Binominal of Power

33
latter is due a much wider area of the
Arctic Ocean, while the implantation of a
Russian flag made of titan, 4 km under the
North Pole, was not only a symbolic
gesture, but one with complex meanings
and with possible unpredictable meanings
in the near future.
Russias expansionist politics is
known for centuries, and Russias present
vision of strength, under the rule of
president Vladimir Putin, of recovering the
position of world superpower, must
become concerning to the world leaders.
Moscows recent decision to suspend
its participation to the Treaty regarding the
limitation of conventional forces in Europe
(CFE) represents another proof that the
Russian politics has changed its substance
and the desired effects.
The causes of this approach reside,
firstly, in USAs unilateral retreat from the
Treaty regarding anti-ballistic missiles
(ABM), signed in 1972 by Richard Nixon
and Leonid Brejnev, document through
which one limited the use of the anti-
ballistic systems by the two military
superpowers. But the most important
reason for Russias position is represented
by the American presence, near its
borders, on wider areas: the establishment
of military bases in Romania and Bulgaria,
as well as the activation of the plan to
place an anti-racket shield in Europe.
In these circumstances, Kremlins
decision to suspend the application of the
CFE Treaty must be understood as a clear
and determined political signal within
Russias relations with the United States
and with the EU, consolidating Putins
rigid decision during the discussions with
Bush at Maine, without foreseeing any
partial solving to the dispute between
Moscow and Washington.
The Western political analysts have
avoided to consider that Putin campaigns
for himself by approaching a campaign of
force in its relations with the US, still
warning that the risk of some obvious
deteriorations of the relations between
Russia and the US, especially in the
conditions in which Moscow installs, as a
counter-reply, a S-400 TRIUMF anti-
racket shield, with a range of action twice
as long as the PATRIOT American
missiles, being able to destruct targets at
400 km distance from the launching base.
If one adds the extremely acute energy
issue to this, an issue managed by Russia
almost with easiness and pragmatism in
the relations with the partners from the
EU, warned since last year of Russias
hardly calm intentions as regards the new
weapon of fuels, we will surely soon
witness another type of pre-figuration of
the putinist Russian politics, as,
paraphrasing the title of a successful
movie, Moscow dont believe in the
tears of the oil and gas consumers,
subscribed to the Russian tap.



34

The New Democracy and Market Reforms
in Latin America

Ioana ALBU, Andrew TOLETT

Rsum: Cet article propose un dbat sur la dmocratisation de lAmrique
Latine, dbat que lon ne peut pas sparer des circonstances historiques
particulires de lpoque daprs la Guerre froide, lorsque la gauche
politique de lAmrique Latine essaye de simposer et de vaincre les forces
globalistes. La gauche politique est privilgie dans notre approche de
lAmrique Latine, grce au rle central quelle joue dans la socit et dans
la politique. Pendant les dernires dcennies lAmrique Latine est devenu
un champ dessai pour les politiques no-librales de la globalisation et
de la dmocratie; la consolidation de la socit civile et la privatisation
stimulant une renaisance aux niveaux politique et intelectuel.
Keywords: Globalization, Post-War Transition, Structural Adjustment,
Industrialization, Opression, Peripherization, Pauperization.

lobalization has had a great impact
and is responded to in various parts
of the world, such as East Asia,
Middle East, Africa and Latin America. In
the 1980s the main theme of Latin
American debate is democracy
1
. The Latin
American intellectuals and more
prominently the political left are the very
basis of the democratization debate. The
particular history, post-Cold War and post-
modern are the ones that determine this
debate and form the actual background in
which Latin America finds itself going
beyond globalization and neo-liberalism.
In this context, structural forces play a
central role. In analyzing the Latin
American societies and politics, the left-
wing intellectuals have created an entity
2

in itself, playing a highly central role. Two
main reasons account for this, the first of
which being the post-colonial domestic
social structure. The social structure of the
country has been characterized by two
elements: a strong state and a weak civil
society, displaying a few relevant aspects:
political parties unrepresentative, civil
institutions rather weak and nation
building under way of consolidation.
According to Jorge Castaneda, from
the first half of the twentieth century, the
best-known Latin American intellectuals
were on the left of the political spectrum
3
.
The second aspect refers to the relationship
of the intellectuals with the western world,
always at the cutting edge of political
theory
4
arising from a different post-
colonial tradition from that in other regions
of the world. Here, the present population
G
The New Democracy and Market Reforms in Latin America

35
from which intellectuals are of European
descent [having no native roots, culture or
religion so as to reflect either national
identity or self-expression], whereas
colonialism has strongly altered native
culture and society.
The above-mentioned stand for the
troubled post-war transition of Latin
America from development to contemporary
neo-liberalism. The individuals within this
group were frequently participating in the
leadership of political parties making the
policies that formed the respective region,
actually having the political power.
According to Castaneda, these individuals
played the role of mediators between the
two main actors the state and society
5

in the link between one another. In the
history of power in Latin America there are
only military dictatorships or intellectuals
6
.
Another important aspect related to
the intellectual left is the aligning of
Latin America to the world economy, in a
neo-liberal trend
7
, which has preceded the
neo-liberal integration of the advanced
countries. The consolidated Western
democracies once presented the same
pattern as Latin America, which now
experiences a return to democracy and a
civil society which has a new role. Thus, to
those looking at social reconstruction in
the old democracies the intellectuals
reflection on the new political economy
and its nature in Latin America becomes a
source to be treasured.
Turning now to the position of Latin
America in the world economy before
World War II, one can say that it occupied
a similar position to other colonial areas,
the main exports being made in exchange
for goods from the West. Foreign
companies owned and/or controlled the
mines and plantations. The national
policies focused primarily on exchange
rates, tariffs and taxation, all favoring
export and the war that followed for a few
years imposed an emergency measure of
import substitution
8
. The idea was to
produce goods that could no longer be
obtained from abroad. Thus a model of
development was shaped after World War
II, denoting a structural break with the
world capitalist system. The above-
mentioned model implied the process of
incipient industrialization of the
underdeveloped countries. The state
played the leading role in making policies
that vise the domestic development of the
country, encouraging foreign investment
whilst developing industrialization
combined with import substitution.
Dependency theory was mainly a Latin
American theory of development
9
.
Postwar policies in Latin America
were state-centric. Similar examples were
the Soviet industrialization and the revival
of the European economies after World
War II, which reinforced the central role of
the state in the centralized economic
planning. Latin Americas exports were
made expensive, whereas imports cheap
10

by the whole array of public policies:
consolidation of infrastructure/industry;
subsidizing basic food products, imposing
price controls thus keeping labor costs
down in urban areas, nationalization of the
key industries as well as protecting local
industry against foreign competition.
The model of import substitutive
industrialization transformed the regions
economies in the 1950s-1960s being quite
successful even if subsequently discredited.
According to A. Hoogvelt
11
Latin
Americas economies were growing faster
than those of the industrialized West. At
the political level populism accompanied
the economic theory of the import
substitutive industrialization. The ruling
elite attempted at mobilizing and uniting
industrialist, masses and peasants
instilling the message of nationalism and
Ioana Albu, Andrew Tolett


36
national development, blaming the
American imperialism.
However, by the second half of the
1960s, the model declined, problems
worsened in all fields. At this point
dependency theory came into its own
analysis of underdevelopment. It was the
left intellectuals who pointed out that the
model had lead to a deepening of
dependence and underdevelopment. The
reason for this was the existing class
structure, colonially inherited that has
determined a visible unequal distribution
of income, limiting internal domestic
markets. The domestic market was limited,
the foreign industrial subsidiaries set into
motion an inefficient system of production
and an outflow of resources, contributing
to the economy becoming regressive.
Further to the post-war indus-
trialization and social development, there
emerged new middle-class (working class)
sectors, willing to participate in the
political life of the country, their demands
for rights contributing to the political crisis
of the 1960s, at the same time the guerilla
warfare and terrorism being developed.
The overall picture in most American
countries was characterized by economic
stagnation, high inflation and serious
balance of payment difficulties. The only
solution seen by many elites against the
domination of the state by revolutionary
forces was the return to authoritarian rule
by military dictatorship, in an attempt at
restoring the condition of social and
political stability, essential condition for
accumulation and economic growth
12
.
Thus imports of military equipment placed
Latin American countries among the main
importers, many of them having military
governments by the middle of the 1970s.
This came in contradiction with the
assumption that a consolidated civilian
government together with more professional
armed forces trigger economic moder-
nization. A series of social-economic
reforms that were imposed severely are in
close connection to the international
context that shaped them (the collapse of
the Bretton Woods system, the
acceleration of the internationalization of
capital and the recycling of petro-dollars
the 1970s
13
. An important element to be
added here is the interest of the American
foreign policy in the region translated
into numerous actions (e.g. the armed
invasion as in the Dominican Republic in
1965), the training of armies and police for
peace programs (such as in Honduras, El
Salvador, Nicaragua).
Examining the regions political
economy of the 1970s in Latin America,
it went through a change in the foreign
investment. Most countries in the region
needed to borrow to cover balance of trade
deficits, but the new lending went to
private companies and para-statal companies;
relatively little covered government deficits.
According to the World Bank, huge wastes
of money and corruption determined a
high inflation; in the early 1980s the debt
burden increase massively and the dollar
interest rates were extremely high.
All through this period of time, the
variations in political style, economic
policies and performance occurred.
Regimes like Venezuela or Brazil were
regarded as bureaucratic authoritarian
14

pursuing development programs coordinated
by the state, whereas others, like Chile or
Argentina were ultra-modernist, focusing
on privatization and export-orientated
accumulations. Some regimes recorded
very high rates of economic growth
(Brazil, Mexico, Chile), while others had
no economic record to show.
The economic situation of the country
went even more through changes and
austerity measures in the 1980s, when the
program imposed by the IMF and World
Bank led to contraction, de-industrialization,
The New Democracy and Market Reforms in Latin America

37
drastic reduction in wages, declining living
standards and popular revolt in all
countries of Latin America. There emerges
a form of civil society which would be the
center of attention, as well as the nature of
the democratic rule. By understanding the
dynamics of the relationship between
economic and political forces in Latin
America, much may be learnt about the
new forms of democracy emerging there
15
.
The program of stabilization and
structural adjustment imposed by the IMF
and the World Bank and backed by the US
set up the neo-liberal agenda and shaped
new relationships between the state,
society and the market. Thus, there take
place new forms of political mobilization,
democratic rights are set as a priority, the
public and the private sphere is clearly
delineated. The democratization process in
Latin America in the late twentieth century
is analyzed along the delineation political
democratization-social democratization,
i.e. establishing autonomy in a constitution
and experimenting with different democratic
mechanisms and procedures in civil society
16
.
Structural adjustment programs came
into operation and Latin America faced a
paradox: i.e. the return to civilian rule. The
struggle against dictatorship took place
outside the left-wing party and
organizational structures. In their place
new forms of human rights movements
took place in Latin America. One should
distinguish between the party left and the
movement left
17
, the latter one being the
fulcrum of the re-democratization of the
region. The military regimes returned to
barracks. What is interesting is that the
intellectuals from the traditional left
(Marxist-Leninist) joined the grassroots
movement in a struggle for electoral
democracy. This support of the intellectual
left for the democratically elected
governments has lead them to rethink the
relationships between state and the market.
The overall picture now was characterized
by a reversal of economic fortunes, a
widening of inequalities and the deepening
misery of the masses
18
.
Since 1980s the Latin American
region has witnessed an extraordinary
increase in the organizational capacity of
civil society, which has been both a source
of hope and an issue about post-modern
social reconstruction.
The movements lead to leftist coalitions
that took power at local (municipal) level,
as opposed to rightist coalitions that rule
the national state. Some of the larger
movements developed into NGOs,
financially viable and accountable. To the
revival of civil society, the womens
movement in Latin America takes a
special place. They were very diverse and
had different goals. Apart from these, the
environmental groups could be included,
as well as the peasant movements.
Conclusion. Globalization has led to a
polarized model of accumulation in which
the domestic market is no longer seen as
being strategic to development. The main
concern of the ruling class consisted in
creating proper conditions to attract
international capital, cheap labour, flexible
working conditions, no taxation, leading to
a cleavage between a small percentage of
enriched population, ad the ret turned
pauper. Throughout the 1990s the region
faced a continuing social decline. Latin
Americas wealth, its markets and its
labour remain targets for exploitation. The
state remains the most powerful
instrument of global domination, being
perceived as the locus of oppression.
Quoting Ankie Hoogvelt again, one could
say that the dismantling of the
developmentalist model and its
replacement by the neo-liberal model has
thrown the region into a spiral of
peripherization and pauperization.

Ioana Albu, Andrew Tolett


38
otes
1
F.J.Schuurmann, Beyond the Impasse:
ew Directions in Development Theory
(London:Zed Books, 1993), pp.113-21
quoted by A. Hoogvelt, Globalization and
the Postcolonial World (The New Political
Economy of Development, 2-nd ed.,
Palgrave, 2001), p. 239.
2
J.G. Castaneda, Utopia Unarmed (New
York, Vintage Books, 1994), p. 177.
3
Ibidem.
4
A. Hoogvelt, op. cit., p. 240.
5
J.G. Castaneda, op. cit. , p. 179.
6
Ibidem, p. 196
7
Ibidem.
8
Ibidem.
9
R. Prebisch, The Economic Development
of Latin America and Its Principal
Problems (NY: Economic Commission for
Latin America, 1964).

10
D. Green, Silent Revolution, the Rise of
Market Economics in Latin America
(London: Cassell and Latin America
Bureau, 1995) p. 16, quoted by A.
Hoogvelt.
11
Ibidem.
12
Gary W. Wynia, The Politics of Latin
American Development (3-rd ed.,
Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 104.
13
Ibidem, p.112.
14
Ibidem, p.230.
15
K. Roberts, Democracy and the
Dependent Capitalist State in Latin
America, in Monthly Review, Oct.1995,
pp.12-26.
16
Ibidem., p. 22.
17
A. Hoogvelt, p. 252.
18
D. Green, op. cit., p. 164.


39

2008 US Presidential Elections: The Iraq War,
Party Platforms and Social Polarization

Anca Parmena OLIMID

Rsum: La guerre dIrak est le principal facteur de la campagne
prsidentielle de 2008. Aujourdhui elle reprsente le problme central de
lopinion publique Amricaine. Cet article est une approche analytique
intgrative de cette campagne, portant surtout trois questions: les sondages
concernant les prfrences des Americains pour llection prsidentielle de
2008, le vote de la population hispanique et les dclarations des candidats
sur le problme Irakien.
Keywords: Presidential Campaign, Poll, Hispanic Vote, Iraq Issue.

residential elections are the heart of
any democracy; they are the
instrument for the people to choose
leaders and, at the same time, they are a
core public function upon which all other
government responsabilities
1
. Today, polls
indicate that the majority of Americans
lack confidence in the electoral system and
the political parties are so divided
concerning the major issues of the society
2
.
The most important undertaking of the
first George W. Bush administration was
the war in Iraq; today, at the end of the
second Bush administration, there is a
growing consensus across the political
spectrum that this war may be the
presidents most disastrous undertaking as
well
3
.
It is also important to notice that in
2001 presidential campaign, George W.
Bush offered a new approch to foreign
policy and expressed strong reservations
about Americas undertaking nation
building Our responsibility to history is
clear: to answer these attacks and rid the
world of evil
4
.

Iraq issue in 2008 Polls for President
The war in Iraq is the major factor in
this years presidential campaign. It
represents the major policy issue on
Americans minds and it has been at the
top of the list on Gallups most important
problem since March 2004. The majority
of Americans believe that the United
States can win the war in Iraq, but only
about a third think it actually will win the
war in Iraq
5
.
In December 2007, a CBS News/New
York Times Poll showed that the
Democrats voters disapproved the way
George W. Bush was handling the
situation with Iraq
6
. The majority of
Americans favor setting a timetable for
removing US troops from Iraq. At the
same time, 45% believe that the
Democratic Party is more likely to make
the right decisions about the war in Iraq.
P
Anca Parmena Olimid


40
CBS ews/ew York Times Poll, December 5-9, 2007
"Do you approve or disapprove of the way
George W. Bush is handling the situation with Iraq?"
Approve Disapprove Unsure
% % %
ALL adults 26 69 5
Republicans 58 34 8
Democrats 7 92 1
Independents 22 73 5
.
10/12-16/07 26 67 7
9/14-16/07 25 70 5
.
"Regardless of how you usually vote, do you think
the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is more likely
to make the right decisions about the war in Iraq?"
Republican Democratic Both (vol.)
either
(vol.)
Unsure
% % % % %
12/5-9/07 30 45 2 9 14
9/4-8/07 32 42 1 9

Source: CBS ews/ew York Times Poll, December 5-9, 2007,
http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm.

At the same time, a USA Today Gallup
Poll showed that, thinking about the political

parties, the Democratic Party would do a
better job of dealing with this issue
7

USA Today/Gallup Poll, ov. 30-Dec. 2, 2007
.
"Thinking now about the political parties:
Do you think the Republican Party or the Democratic Party would do a better job of
dealing with each of the following issues and problems?
How about the situation in Iraq?"

Republican
Party
Democratic
Party
o Difference
(vol.)/Unsure
% % %
11/30 - 12/2/07 38 48 14
1/9-11/04 53 37 10
.
Source: USA Today Gallup Poll, November 30-December 2, 2007,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2007-12-03-politics-poll.htm

Despite these extreme levels of concern,
there is much consensus on Iraq issue. At
this point, 36% of Americans think that the
war in Iraq is the most important issue in

determing vote for President. Only 6 %
say that homeland security/defense is
actually important and only 3% pay
attention to the international affairs
8
.
2008 US Presidential Elections: The Irak War, Party Platforms and Social Polarization

41
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
W
a
r

i
n

I
r
a
q

T
h
e

e
c
o
n
o
m
y
H
e
a
l
t
h

c
a
r
e
I
l
l
i
g
a
l

i
m
m
i
g
r
a
t
i
o
n
H
o
m
e
l
a
n
d

s
e
c
u
r
i
t
y
T
a
x
e
s
C
a
n
d
i
d
a
t
e

i
n
t
e
g
r
i
t
y
A
b
o
r
t
i
o
n
D
o
m
e
s
t
i
c

i
s
s
u
e
s
S
o
c
i
a
l

s
e
c
u
r
i
t
y
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n
t
e
r
n
a
t
i
o
n
a
l

a
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f
a
i
r
s
E
d
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c
a
t
i
o
n

Source: Gallup Poll, What Voters Want, January 3, 2008,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/103534/What-Voters-Want.aspx

The Hispanic vote: the key to 2008
elections?
The race to replace George W. Bush
results in a strange inversion of recent
campaigns: Democrats and Republicans
prefered to champion the idea of post-
partisanship. In fact, in 2007 presidential
debates, the conservative ideology on the
nomination process seems imperiled.
Today, the majority of the Republicans
believe the improved security in Iraq could
help whoever becomes the Republican
Partys presidential candidate in November
2008: John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt
Romney and Fred Thompson worked
desperately to present themselves as social
defenders of the conservative pol of the
American foreign policy.
At the same time, the Democrats
nominee will have a major advantage with
independent voters going into the 2008
presidential elections
9
. Even among Democrats,

there is no consensus about the timing of
any troop withdrawal. While three-
quarters want to decrease the number of
troops in Iraq, only a third advocate a
complete, immediate withdrawal. There is
even less support for that option among
independents (15 percent) and Republicans
(6 percent)
10
.
In 2008 presidential elections, the
Hispanic could become decisive. Hispanics
are the U.S. largest and fastest growing
minority group: at 46 milions strong, they
make about 15% of the U.S. population
and in 2008, Latinos will comprise about
9% of the eligible electorate nationwide
11
.
Even though immigation has had a very
high profile in the early stages of the 2008
presidential debates, the war in Iraq rise
also to the top when Latinos registred
voted are asked to give a list of six most
important issues in this campaign.

Anca Parmena Olimid


42
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Education Health care The economy
and jobs
Crime Immigration The war in
Iraq
Extremely important Very important Total
Source: Paul Taylor, Richard Fey, Hispanics and the 2008 Election: A Swing Vote?,
Wasshington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center, December 2007

2008 Presidential Candidates on
Iraq issue
The war in Iraq remains the most
important issue in the battle for the
Democratic Party nomination where
senator Hillary Clinton of New York
continues to lead the debates in public
opinion polls. The major part of Hillary's
plan is the first: to end the U.S. military
engagement in Iraq's civil war and
immediately start bringing troops home.
Her plan for Iraq begins with a phased
redeployment of U.S. troops in 90 days. At
the same time, the Hillarys strategy will
include an international conference with
Iraqs neighbors in order to reduce the
interference in the internal affairs of Iraq.

The plan will have three specific goals:
non-interference, mediation and reconstruction
funding.
The central idea of senator Barack
Obamas project is a phased redeployment
of troops to the U.S., Afghanistan and
other points in the Middle East no later
than May 1, 2007 with the goal of final
removing by March 31 this year. In this
respect, Obama recommends a regional
and international diplomatic initiative
involving key nations within 60 days. He
says: I made a different judgment. I
thought our priority had to be finishing the
fight in Afghanistan. I spoke out against
what I called a rash war in Iraq. I worried
about, an occupation of undetermined
length, with undetermined costs, and
2008 US Presidential Elections: The Irak War, Party Platforms and Social Polarization

43
undetermined consequences. The full
accounting of those costs and consequences
will only be known to history. But the
picture is beginning to come into focus
12
.
Former senator John Edwards accepts
immediately withdraws in the next 12 to
18 months by the fall of 2008 without
leaving behind any permanent U.S.
militar, U.S. military base in Iraq. In fact,
John Edwards has done the most to carry
the progressive banner, even though he
initially supported the Iraq war
13
.
His recent declarations have found that
the United States should keep its troops in
Iraq as long as necessary until the situation
there gets better. But that does not mean
most Americans necessarily want a quick
exit from Iraq. While the majority of the
Democrats continue to support setting a
timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops,
John Edwards favor a gradual withdrawal:
immediately withdraws 40.000 to 50.000
combat troops. At the same time, sufficient
forces should remain in the region to
contain the conflict and ensure stability in
the region.
There are certainly obvious differences
between the Democrats and Republicans
perspectives concerning Iraq. The Republican
Party has been especially vexed in recent
nomination contests by the Iraq war issue.
In fact, the Principal republican groups
big business and traditional religion-get
along better, but they can still disagree
14
.
In order to get the partys nomination,
Rudy Giulianis perspective on Iraq is
clear. In an interview, Giuliani said that the
goal of U.S. engagement in Iraq is a secure
nation where Iraqi should have the
institutions they need to provide security
for their country. He also says there are
significant inhibitors to political progress.
Althought the U.S. goal remains constant:
to create stability.
Mike Huckabe is supportive of decision
to invade. He is also in favor of troop
increase and says that this war is one
Americans cannot afford to lose. He
believes the United States should continue
to coordinate efforts to assist Iraq.
John McCain voted in 2002 to authorize
invasion. He also agreed with the
Presidents difficult decision to go on war
in Iraq and he remains totally supportive of
his determination not to leave Iraq until the
freely elected government.
Costs of the war in Iraq continue to
accrue for the people of the United States.
Most Americans are somewhat aware of
the important of this issue in the 2008
presidential debates. Iraq will unavoidably
be the main subject of debate during US
presidential campaign; the debates will
almost certainly encompass the original
decision to go on war as well as postwar
political transition and reconstruction
efforts in Iraq
15
.

otes
1
Building Confidence in U.S. Elections, Center
for Democracy and Election Management,
American University, supported by Carnegie
Corporation of New York, The Ford
Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, Omidyar Foundation, September
2005, p. ii.
2
Bruce Buchanan, The Policy Partnership,
Presidential Elections and American Democracy,
Routledge, New York, 2004, p. 18.
3
James Kurth, Ignoring History: U.S.
Democratization in the Muslim World, Orbis,
Foreign Policy Research Institute, Elsevier
Limited, Philadelphia, Spring 2005, pp.
305-306; Idem, Global Threats and American
Strategies: From Communism in 1955 to
Islamism in 2005, Orbis, Foreign Policy
Research Institute, Elsevier Limited,
Philadelphia, Fall 2005, pp. 631-632.
4
Remarks, National Cathedral, September
14, 2002, http://www.whitehouse.gov /news
/releases/2001/09.
5
The People's Priorities: Gallup's Top 10,
November 2, 2007, http://www.gallup.com /poll
Anca Parmena Olimid


44
/102526/Peoples-Priorities-Gallups-Top.aspx?
version=print.
6
CBS News/New York Times Poll,
December 5-9, 2007, http://www.polling
report .com/iraq.htm.
7
USA Today Gallup Poll, November 30-
December 2, 2007, http://www.usatoday.
com/news/polls/tables/live/2007-12-03-
politics-poll.htm
8
What Voters Want, January 3, 2008,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/103534/What-
Voters-Want.aspx.
9
Nelson W. Polsby, Aaron Wildavsky,
Presidential Elections, Rowman & Littlefield,
Lanham, 2007, pp. 119-122.
10
Jon Cohen, Dan Balz, Poll Finds
Democrats Favored On War, Washington
Post, Tuesday, July 24, 2007, p. 1.

11
Paul Taylor, Richard Fey, Hispanics and
the 2008 Election: A Swing Vote?,
Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic Center,
December 2007, pp. i-iii.
12
Barack Obama, Plan for ending the war
in Iraq, Clinton, Iowa, September 12, 2007,
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/.
13
Franklin Foer, Election 2008: A Voter's
Guide, Yale University Press, London,
2008, p. 18.
14
William G. Mayer, The Making Of The
Presidential Candidates 2008, Rowman &
Littlefield, Lanham, 2007, pp. 8-9.
15
David North, The Crisis of American
Democracy. The Presidential Elections of
2000 and 2004, Mehring Books, Sheffield,
2004, pp. 42-43.


45

The Role of Malta in a Unified Europe
A Cultural Interpretation of a Political Reality

Oliver FRIGGIERI

Rsum : Cet essai porte sur le rle international que le plus petit des tats
de lUnion Europenne pourrait jouer aujourdhui, en partant de lhistoire,
de la culture et de la spiritualit maltaise, vues comme les sources de lavenir
de ce pays.
Keywords: ation, History, Identity, Independence, Future.

ertain factors have forcefully
contributed towards the definition
of Malta, at least that Malta which
is immediately identifiable in terms of its
objective characteristics: the unique
geographical position midway between
two distinct continents and constituting
part of the frontier of one of them, the long
colonial experience, the composite nature
of its history and culture, the strong and
uninterrupted religious tradition which is
as ancient as its exceptionally early free
standing stone buildings. Simply the oldest
of this type, and yet pertaining to an
unpretentious tiny rock. All this is contained
within a very small space, which is also
complete, constituting a whole.
Smallness and entirety: that is the first
paradox, begetting the rest. God created
elephants and God created ants, and He is
equally marvellous in both cases, perhaps
much more in the latter one. An ant
involves implication, a way of putting it
all in a nutshell. Indeed, a living universe
almost invisible, demanding knowledge
and astonishment to be somehow appreciated.
And that is where the idea of a novel
creeps in. Perhaps the past can be narrated
also through intuition, and not only
through reasoning. The heart is frequently
more perceptive than the mind.
Historical research has successfully sought
to identify and to describe in detail what
makes such a minute stretch of land a
nation, and eventually an autonomous state,
as any other. An exception to the rule, to
the point of eventually claiming to be a full
member of a Unified Europe, an EU
which will soon be simply known as
Europe. The islands smallness is already
an indication of something peculiar which
has managed to stand the arduous test of
time, to outwit the dictates of history and
to finally arrive at the phase which defines
a nation as fully accomplished. The fact
that Malta is now the smallest member of
the European Union is a significant
indication of the persistency with which
the Maltese have traditionally stuck to the
conviction that their nationhood should be
finally rewarded by all. That is Malta, the
nation and the state. A will to be.

C
Oliver Friggieri


46
One whole story about survival
But what about the inhabitants, those
few thousands of people who have
persistently built themselves up into what
they are today? Survival is the ultimate
rule of the complex game, and continuity
is the sort of process which made them
reach their seasonal destination. That is why
a history of Malta may be substantially
distinct from a history of the Maltese.
Where were they, all along, so productive
through their highly fascinating and
resourceful spoken word, and their finely
carved and constructed stone and yet so
conspicuously absent, unacknowledged?
The land and the inhabitants: they are or
have been for quite a long time two diverse
entities, since history has put the people in
a situation wherein they had to spend most
of their life asking who they were, what
right they actually had to exist, what sort
of relationship could be the most
convenient for them to establish with their
foreign landlords. One thing they have
never put in doubt: the land was theirs.
Religion (pre-Christian and Christian)
and language (pre-Maltese and Maltese)
have actually moulded their condition,
giving shape to their frame of mind (their
grammar amply testifies this). Both are
intimately intertwined in a manner rarely
found in the chronicles of enormously bigger
countries which did not have to face the
most elementary among problems: survival.
Faith and language have helped the
Maltese defy the incessant challenges of
time. If, or when, both succumb that will
be the unhappy ending of the story. The
harshest onstaught of all is perhaps todays.
The ultimate problem of Malta is Malta.
The challenge of overcoming extinction
went hand in hand with striving to construct
nationhood, to keep alive that degree of
collective coherence necessary for a community
to be defined as something unique and
compact. For a long time it all seemed to
be important to guarantee existence at least
in terms of the primeval notion of common
social conviviality. In any case, whichever
the complex implications of such premises,
one can safely consider Malta as a very old
nation, endowed with a civilisation of at
least seven thousand uninterrupted years.
Being Maltese, therefore, is equally a
source of authentic pride and a matter of
self-investigation. Being Maltese is itself a
question.
That question can be answered both
scientifically, through documented conclusions,
and literarily, through the creative, imaginative
construction of a novel. If both endeavours
could be associated so as to form one
unique process of discovery, then that is
quite fine. Academic research provides
conclusions which literary perception can
then amply reorganize into a meaningful
narrative.
The fundamental issue still beckons:
what does it actually mean to be able to
survive and to eventually define yourself
as Maltese? To me it has instinctively been
an equally existential and historical query,
and has gone a very long way in providing
me with material of various sorts for my
narrative works. In academic research things
could not be substantially different, but in
that field matters have to be dealt with and
analysed clinically, with complete detachment.
In creative literature imagination and memory,
the ideal and the real, have to play a
simultaneous double role, and results are
unpredictable since individuals do not easily
fall within the predefined patterns. Even
structural criticism makes an allowance for
such divergences.

The essence of the Maltese soul
I have sought to explore the close
quarters of the Maltese soul (religious,
Mediterranean, Southern European, insular,
peripheral) in my poetry, novels and short
stories. Such remote and shaded territories
The Role of Malta in an Unified Europe

47
are normally unsung, unacknowledged,
perhaps disowned, only to be considered
as mere aspects of outdated, irrelevant folk
life. Beyond being a Nationalist or a
Labourite, there is something abysmally
deeper. There is much to prove that such
residues of the past, especially as may be
rediscovered through fiction, betray traits
of archetypal modes of perception and
behaviour still enduring in the post-
modern inhabitant. In spite of the Malta
Labour Part-Partit Nazzjonalista persistent
claim to parenthood, which is not at all
unwarranted, the inhabitants of the island
are inevitably and simply Maltese, a fact
forcefully preceding the recent formation
of our partisan grouping. This has proved
to be a beneficial acquisition, an indication
of how close to continental belief has been
the Maltese spirit during the British period.
Our modernity has been moulded in terms
of a truth much deeper than itself.
Perhaps, by way of opposites, another
conclusion is plausible: bipartisanship may
be even older than the political parties
themselves. A strong plant needs soil. The
French period is already indicative of
duality: for instance, Mikiel Anton Vassalli
and Dun Mikiel Xerri, both exemplary in
their own way, are so similar and yet so
distinctly different. And there starts the
long weary story of our modernity.
All this I have learned and revisited
continuously in the process of constructing
seven novels over about thirty eight years.
The period of actual writing is much shorter,
but the thinking course is incessant and
occupies the whole range of time. A novel
takes much longer to be felt and thought,
digested, than to be designed on paper and
then written down. Inner experience is thus
put into shape, and I would say that a novel
is nothing more, and nothing less, than the
shapening of something initially vague, or
else too obvious to be taken seriously. A
novel is a question. Then revision comes
next, involving scrutiny of all sorts.
The central point is the reality of someone
living on a tiny sunny land surrounded by
the infinite ocean. The inhabitant is
hardworking, stubborn, kind, determined,
unrecognized, and has two constant points
of reference: his God (omnipresent, eternal,
almighty) and his range of land (here and
now, restricted). Both have never failed
him/her. The land is minute and the sea is
infinite; both contradict the inhabitant's
innate sense of space and preciseness. But
opposites resemble each other, and so the
security of faith and the pervading feeling
of precariousness blend together. So it has
been, and so it still is, when a whole cultural
heritage is being consistently dismantled.
An island is thus seen as an open secret,
an exception to the rule of the much broader
spaces, a peculiar reality worth exploring
which is quite different, perhaps more
intriguing and inspiring, from the one a
visitor may get on the mainland, the so-
called 'terra ferma'. In the specific case of
Malta, things are perhaps much more
engaging. Here a whole continent finds its
uttermost boundary. The periphery begets
a special sensation. That is what can be
sought within oneself and consequently
through the depiction of characters and
situations in a novel. At least that is what I
have sought to do in my novels.
In Fil-Parlament ma Jikbrux Fjuri (1986)
an average Maltese citizen, ironically
named Karlu Manju, questions all, talks to
himself and to everybody, and eventually
seeks his origins in the magnificent old
temples. He must have been born in the
whereabouts of Mnajdra, Hagar Qim,
Tarxien Temples, he who lives now, in an
urbanised spot. He goes on a walk all
alone on that day, preceding elections,
when PN and MLP organize their own
final mass, massive meeting, a real show
of strength, a tough tug of war, then
Oliver Friggieri


48
dutifully followed by a silent day of
reflection... or revision of choices already
made. The novel seeks to discover whether
Karlu Manju is actually a member of the
group. There he goes, through utterly
desolate streets as both mass meetings duly
unfold, on his way towards the ancient
temples, where his credentials for his
modern claims are held, defying time. Is
he a member of a third hypothetical party,
or just an undercurrent within the two
mainstreams?
The concept of unity, oneness, is
fundamental to both major parties. Twoness
would amount to imperfection. A whole
tradition of thought is implied in such
simplifications. Malta is indeed, albeit
unconsciously, Mediterranean, in spite of
itself. A study of the essential vocabulary
repeatedly employed by the major political
parties will easily prove this. One minimal
underlying language serves them both.
Where can one really strike a middle
course? For instance, if the record of
history cannot provide us with a unifying
national day, can we, or should not we,
create one artificially? Yes.
This is the essential list of elements
constituting this unique exception, a
diminutive island which is equally a city
and a nation, a geographical dot and a
formidable fortress of history, standing
midway between two continents, belonging
to the South of Europe and so close to
North Africa, looking very far ahead from
herself. A dynamic paradox? Perhaps that
is what makes Malta worth narrating
through novels, both as a given reality and
as a paradigm of being, whoever, wherever.
I have tried to do so in my novels Fil-
Parlament ma Jikbrux Fjuri (In Parliament
no Flowers Grow, 1986), Gizimin li Qatt
ma Jiftah (Jasmin Blossoms for all Time,
1998), It-Tfal Jigu bil-Vapuri (Children
come by Ship, 2000), and Koranta and
Other Short Stories from Malta (1994), all
issued by Mireva Publications. I have
sought to delve even furthur into this
matter in the sequel to It-Tfal Jigu bil-
Vapuri, namely La Jibbnazza igi Lura
(When it Clears I will Return, 2006), as
well as in the third novel in the series, still
unpublished, Dik id-Dghajsa fofs il-Port
(That Boat in the Middle of the Harbour).
Whilst narrating through fiction the modern
history of a country in my own way, I
found myself coming to grips with what
makes it worth discovering. Indeed, to be
is not equivalent to to know.
Gizimin li Qatt ma Jiftah is set in the
late fifties, whereas It-Tfal Jigu bil-Vapuri
and La Jibbnazza igi Lura reconstruct
the early decades of the twentieth century
and years later, namely phases of the British
period. Everything is meant to depict a sort
of Malta which is sadly no more, but
which will presumably reside in the
memory of various generations, enticing
the younger ones to imagine and to dream
of a future partially resembling the past. It
is all meant to be a tribute to our
foremothers and forefathers who passed
away without ever being complimented
for all they have done: to create a nation
out of nothingness, and through sheer
belief in what they were.
Is this all irrelevant to the present? Of
course it is, only if a plant can survive in
isolation from its roots.
Perhaps globalisation, merely substituting
the previous forms of dictatorship through
the unwarranted intrusion of the media on
individual life, is heading towards something
of this sort. So the island portrayed in these
novels may actually be somewhere within
us, timeless. It still persists. Is it possible
that tourists choose to visit such a remote
rock mainly to discover a feeling islanders
inevitably experience all time? The
situation in Malta during the British period
may be a fitting setting to evoke such a
perception. The contemporary period, which

49
in certain respects can be easily called the
self-destructive period, can lend itself to
much thought in this regard.
A tentative answer only begets questions,
at least in literature. All these novels, I
now come to understand, are inherently
related to each other, based on my
knowledge and experience of the British
period in Malta, namely in Balzunetta,
Floriana, so endearing, and fascinating,
and intriguing, so colourful in the way it
was experienced by our forefathers and by
us who can fully recall its final fase. The
portrait I can thoroughly provide is related
to the Grand Harbour area and to
Balzunetta, both of which I have done my
best to reconstruct and to evoke in highly
respectful ways. It has been quite alluring
to draw on dear memory and to enliven it
with imagination.

A nation built on memory
The Maltese themselves, deprived for
many centuries of the recognition of their
speech medium (Maltese) in official life,
had to rely on memory (verbality). Our
nation is actually built on our collective
memory. I have tried to interpret this fact
through characters who never write anything.
A pre-alphabetical era, ancient, indeed
modern, or even post-modern, contemporary.
Spoken verbality as the national unwritten
archive of a community. Does this imply
that the real soul of our people has died a
silent death? Indeed, words are people. An
important character in these novels, Katarina,
embodies all this. In other respects she is a
remnant of something on its way towards
extinction.
Archaelogical evidence pertaining to
Malta goes back to seven thousand years.
Here are the oldest free standing stone
buildings in the world. Its megalithic temples
are a marvel, the earliest "churches" which
have actually established the major feature
of Maltese identity: the unity between
religious faith and national culture, predating
our ancient Christianity itself. Both belief
in Our Lord and love towards the country
(Religio et Patria for the Nationalist Party
and Malta l-ewwel u qabel kollox for
Dom Mintoffs Labour Party) have
uninterruptedly flourished together in
partial isolation, indeed a splendid one
which has not deprived any of what is
essential and common to any other
anywhere else.
It then had to be St. Paul, shipwreched
and warmly welcomed, to give a different
and much more distinctive mould to that
preexisting conviction that heaven and
earth must meet somewhere in the human
soul, if both are to have any meaning at all.
They do meet in the Maltese spirit, and
that is quite interesting for anybody who
would like to look at Malta from the
inside. An X-ray instead of an average
photo. That can be done through a novel.

A novel going beyond history
The inner aspect of the island resembles
an unlocked mystery, whereas the outer
one seems to exemplify just another
segment of the complexity of the South.
We are the southernmost part of the South,
and a methodic comparison with northern
countries yields ample proof. Only regionality
(as opposed to continentalism) provides a
complete definition of a country. Malta can
be best understood through its belonging to a
specific region, and that is definitive. We
will always be Mediterranean. Characters
in It-Tfal Jigu bil-Vapuri and La Jibbnazza
igi Lura are all, including victims, the
product of a long, uninterrupted tradition,
insular and self-sufficient, within which
they recognize themselves.
And so the long story goes... An
unmarried mother, Susanna (Biblical
connotation), a rigidly traditionalist father
(Saverju, a typically Southern name) and
an utterly submissive but patient mother
Oliver Friggieri


50
(Katarina), a saintly priest whose holiness
knows no bounds and is therefore equally
saintly and self-destructive (Dun Grejbel, a
name denoting the locally formed diminutive
of Gabriel), and a distant, though vigilant,
demanding, unanimous, croud: perhaps
these are the constituent elements of a
conventional Southern European village,
as typified in a local one. In such a remote
corner, it-tarf tad-dinja (the edge of the
world), all the predicaments of life are
equally present: peace and disorder, love
and hatred, life and death. Indeed, the
village provides both the cradle and the
tomb, birth and burial, and is therefore
utterly complete, self-sufficient, in itself.
A welfare state of fact, preceding the
thought of it all. Indeed, the partial isolation
of our foremothers/forefathers may have
been a real privilege. I now do believe isolation
may be a way of having the best of both
words. Malta still stands that chance, but
other choices seem to have naively taken
over. A real pity for our future generations,
who will have to decide whether living in
Malta is viable or not.
Either directly or in disguise, the
question of splendid isolation and dutiful
integration has always been there. It has
consistently been the real cause of the
bittermost encounters (Strickland, Mintoff,
the Church-State relationhip, the EU
membership question, post-modernism,
typified in the vivacious Lawrence Gonzi-
Alfred Sant cultural conflict), but to date
never to disagreeable degrees. The Gonzi-
Sant conflict, a generational duel, may be
systematically analysed and defined, for
instance, in terms of the adjectives they
employ in the regard of each other, and the
semantic context within which such intentional
adjectives are adoperated. The exercise makes
me very sad, and may I leave it at that.
Indeed, a thoroughly cultural encounter.
Maltese conflicts somehow reach a
point and then come to a hault so as to
calm down and lead back to normality.
That is due to our long standing religious
tradition, to which we owe also our
complete social well being. The Church-
State dispute has normally illustrated this
tendency. Life on an island must in any
case look like a family event, an
unpredictable story in itself which must
then have a happy ending. Celebrations of
any sort are frequent, church village festas
are a continuous occurrence, whereas politics
is indeed an entertainingly controversial
commitment to most inhabitants. Almost
every argument has a partisan connotation.
All words are inevitably loaded with
unintended meaning. Most of our double
or triple meaning is partisan. Meaning
Added Tax. Nothing in Malta is politically
free. Political correctness here means political
belonging. All else is either myth or death.
Sad enough, but then sufficiently pleasant
to narrate, to translate into a novel.
When all these ingredients are put together,
the product must be contextualised isolation,
a condition which is neither inferior nor
superior to any other, but just different. It
is intriguing to think that there may be
only two spaces: ta Malta (inside Malta)
and ta barra (outsiders). I and the other.
But in actual fact it is a state of the mind,
possibly everywhere, and not just a
geographical fact. This can be best explained
as a modified application of the ancient
Mediterranean principle that reality can be
best, if not only, perceived through a dualism.
In these novels I have sought to explain
events and feelings through the sense of
belonging, perhaps the one underlying all.
The family, the parish, the district
(conventionally known as either a city or a
village or a suburb), the parish, etc. are
aspects of how belonging is organised,
structured, transformed into conviviality.
In the light of a whole spate of unwritten
rules, such characters constitute a sort of
autonomous state long before political

51
awareness reached that stage. Malta lacked
leaders of its own for a long time simply
because it failed to look for them in the
average person. A question of roots,
unacknowledged, even despised. Independence
is essentially mental, not constitutional.

The distinctive identity of islanders
Islanders are a peculiar breed. They
tend to be inwardlooking and yet are
always in search of the outer world. Local
tourism, an invitation to discover what
makes a rock a real nation, largely depends
on the hospitality of the average people.
The Maltese instinctively greet foreigners
and would go out of their way to make
them feel at home during their stay. That
verdict is unanimous and the Maltese trace
their virtue back to Biblical times (The Acts
of the Apostles, 28:1). In St. Lukes account
the key-word is perhaps courtesy, hlewwa.
(A term related to hlewwa - ohla - has
eventually found its place even in the
islands national anthem). In actual fact,
this may be due to what seems to make the
Maltese consistent in their perception of
themselves and of the universe at large.
The entrenched feeling of duality, namely
a world view necessarily divisible into two
is, in my opinion, essential to the whole
interpretation.
It is inevitable to have to face such an
interpretation in the process of writing. A
human type in a novel, a general social
background, an argument, all characters
seen as a group, the choice of a specific
literary word as opposed to the more
frequently used one: this sort of twoness
has largely determined my way of thinking
and constructing written works.
The two major political parties have
for many decades shared power and
support between themselves. Bipartisanship
has been a workeable choice from the very
start. Most Maltese belong from their early
years to their party, since "belonging" is
equivalent to "being" (the nominative is
frequently equated with the genitive). One
is born within a group, and different
choices may only be made within that
decisive perspective. An islander cannot
easily afford to be capriciously exposed to
the whims of the other, the unfathomable,
the unpredictable. And "the other" is really
the sea, that huge expanse larger than
ones own, different, ambiguous, immobile,
ferocious, challenging. It recalls the past,
when sieges have left an indelible mark,
mainly psychological, and it ushers the
future, when the wide world will become
closer with its indiscriminate dictates.
Central points move. Globalisation is
indeed the new form of centralisation,
succeeding the collapse of formal dictatorships,
typical in diverse ways of any era, now
determined by a non-political force: technology.
Will it eventually lay claim to what we now
consider sacred? Technology is a marvel,
namely by definition incomplete, not self-
sufficient. In novels formally evoking the
past (such periods as pre-war, post-war,
post-independence, post-colonial), the present
is indirectly implied, and comparisions and
contrasts are immediately drawn.

An island resembling a boat
The Maltese are quite proud of their
identity and therefore they will not find it
very difficult to recognize the more important
truth that their party only constitutes a half,
and that the sense of incompleteness must
be overcome. There they are: partisan in
all respects, duly critical of the opposing
party, and yet ready to acknowledge that
they are all survivors. Otherness, as
represented by the opposite group, is
necessary for the islander to be sure of
his/her completeness.
Otherness is not what it is in a
different context, namely where the sea is
not so close and does not constitute a
definitive boundary. Opposites imply and
Oliver Friggieri


52
resemble each other. Hence the islander is
tied to the sea as much as to the fields. I
have tried to explore this dichotomy in the
novel La Jibbnazza igi Lura, where a
large segment of the story occurs in the
Grand Harbour area, the fanciful place of
decades ago, the joy of my generation.
Detailed descriptions and colourful memories
help to recall and to revive the splendour
of Harbour life any time of the day, any
day. One only closes ones eyes to see
better, through memory, the earliest, the
most recent candid camera. I firmly conclude
that a large portion of the creative act is
made up of nostalgia, an undefineable feeling
pervading all senses. Thank God for
nostalgia, especially now when now-ness is
almost all. That environment is perhaps the
most solemn aspect of the land-sea contact
and of what makes islanders what they are:
people related to the ocean, always aware
of its call. Vapuri used to bring babies as
much as they will always carry adults to
other countries. Birth and departure are
both a vapuri affair. The islander, therefore,
is anybody anywhere. An island lives
within the self as well.
Let us concede that this, our, story is a
tale about self-contentment. In the context
of other countries, Maltas story has been a
story of success. In other terms, unequivocal,
relative isolation has been a privilege.
There enters pride, in disguise, inhibited,
and real. Much of the pride of the Maltese
is derived from their profound attachment
to the land and from the fact that they have
an ancient language, rich, resourceful,
recognized by so many remarkable foreign
scholars as uniquely interesting for its
intercontinentality, intimately related to the
worlds three major religions. Maltese is
simply close to the sounds God Himself
has chosen to speak to this planet. So much
pride condenced within a language. In
spite of our low national self-esteem, we
know that Maltese is simply very close to
the medium chosen by God to disclose his
plans to humankind, namely to the language
of the Torah, the Gospels, the Quran. The
dignity of the Maltese language is simply
superlative. Therefore, the characters of a
novel must naturally, albeit subconsciously,
embody this feeling, this sense of security.
As usual, it is all due to the most privileged
aspect of our identity, faith. The Church
can save whatever is still there to be saved
of a whole tradition, or else it will perish
like all perishables. A Church at the cross
roads. The choice is hers to make, here and
now.
Another stage in the process of modernised
isolation is normalisation. That only involves
the adoption of international criteria. The
fact that the Maltese tend to be
automatically divisive on most issues is
only indicative of their need to discover
otherness. They are aware that the ocean is
a wall, and that the land is a sort of open
harbour, embracing water on all sides. The
fortress image which Malta had for so long
has been assimilated as part of the people's
mental apparatus. Our collective unconscious
is that of a sailor, retired, remindful,
nostalgic. At least this is what I had in
mind when constructing La Jibbnazza igi
Lura, where the Grand Harbour area is
thoroughly described and explored in its
varied features. There is a bambott (bum
boat) willing to become a gadraj (ships
chandler), and there are all the nuancies of
an alluring environment which I very well
remember and have sought to reconstruct
in great detail. That stretch of sea between
Valletta and Floriana, on one side, and
Kottonera, on the other, typifies the condition
of the rest of the island. The islands real
story cannot be understood if not against
the Grand Harbours background. At least
this is how I concluded that a Maltese
story could actually resemble the story of
any islander anywhere else. Delete any

53
reference to Malta, and it will still be
anywhere else. So is life, just one.
The protagonist of Fil-Parlament ma
Jikbrux Fjuri, ironically named Karlu
Manju, considers himself a full person, an
example of unified duality, embodying the
completeness and self-sufficiency of the
emerging Maltese citizen. But even this is
partly elusive since things, ideas and
people in Malta must be conceived in
terms of to whom they belong. Such an
illusion is necessary, a sign of the times,
indicating an urge which is fast gaining
ground among the younger generation,
even though the traditional structure will
still be there for a long time to come. The
predominance of the genitive case in
surnames and nicknames is, for instance,
only an indication of a profounder
characteristic of the islander: immobility.
Mobility, however, is equally decisive.
In these narratives a villager moves towards
the harbour, there to start life afresh,
eventually to understand that ships also
move outwards. A lesson which Furjana
and Isla, amongst other places, forcefully
impose on all. Children used to arrive
happily by ship, as much as adults then
used to sadly leave their abode by ships.
The cruel irony of islanders. Lanca gejja
u ohra sejra (a boat is coming and another
one is going). It is all about the variations
on the theme of migration.
An island of this sort is quite unique:
exceptionally small and remarkably rich in
culture and traditions, an age-long colony
which in the past few decades has managed
to partially rebuild itself psychologically
and structurally. Not completely, of course,
because prejudice has been devastating,
and ignorance has grossly overcome what
is obvious in most countries. Whatever
anywhere else is obvious, here is controversial.
The process of self-reconstruction, therefore,
must go on, and it is the newer challenge
facing our younger teachers, all highly
qualified, all having to assume a different
nature as times change and as globalisation
takes its cruel toll on whatever survives
and flourishes through relative isolation.
Globalisation is most cruel in the regard of
the small and the weak. Just another
seasonal sort of totalitarianism.
There came the need, throughout the
twentieth century, for Malta to rediscover
itself, to evaluate its heritage and to present
it to the outer world. There lies its justification
for being accepted in all normal terms
within the European family of nations,
however unfair and inconsistent the
concept of such a family can be. The fact
that such an island has built itself into a
state is indicative of the great amount of
self-confidence the inhabitants have always
had in their homeland and in themselves.
Malta still a colony? To a great extent,
and in a metaphocial sense, it cannot afford
not to be. The irony of it all is that neo-
colonialism is frequently identified with
modernism, whereas references to other
countries prove otherwise. But the process
is still reversible, and the solution depends
on how much an inverted sense of isolation
can be overcome. Only international
criteria favour national redemption from
any sort of outdated colonial feeling.

Maltas future residing in the past
The territory as well as the mental
frame are closely related to each other in
the average life of an islander, especially
so when the island is very tiny. Tourism
has turned self-recognition into an economical
necessity. As this industry assumes greater
importance, it becomes more obvious that
an island can only survive through going
on being itself: its future somehow resides
in its past. Conservation is perhaps the best
form of development for realities like
Malta. The novity of the future is
equivalent to the recognition of the past.
Oliver Friggieri


54
Gozo is the most glaring example of this
self-evident paradox.
Narrating all this and much more in
poetry and in novels has proved to me
quite an inspiring experience, a labour of
love and much more, a sort of duty
towards that unknown compartment of our
psyche which still has to discuss itself in
the light of both tradition and modernity.
The two have to go on hand in hand,
embodying continuity. Without its past, well
preserved, venerated, Malta will not enjoy
any future at all. Indeed, Malta can disappear,
and become an average residential area.
The Maltese character must express this
compromise between what appear to be
extremes. The Phoenicians, the Carthaginians,
the Romans, the Arabs, the British, have
all contributed towards the formation of
modern man. The Knights of Malta have
left an indelible mark in most sectors of
culture, mainly in architecture. Napoleon
took Malta within days but he said the
right thing, or partly so, in the wrong way,
and the uprising of the Maltese soon led to
the British period. Perhaps a novel is the
best medium for putting all this into
meaningful shape. What will the Maltese
now do of their own country?
The attainment of independence and the
self-proclamation of Malta as a republic
are the results of a whole process. So,
finally, the small community was in a
position to decide for itself. It had been a
long and weary way, during which culture
was enriched, and morale wandered through
varying degrees.

The South is permanent
Polarisation has very deep roots. The
overwhelming dualism may be looked at
as a set of variations on a theme: the ruler
and the ruled, the land (stability) and the
sea (fluctuation), the enormous outer world
and the minute inner territory, ancient
tradition (defined, static) and modernity
(speedy, relentless), continuity and mobility,
the regional and the continental aspect.
The list may go on and on, but perhaps it
will only prove the same point: islanders
descend from fish. But then, according to
Einstein, what does a fish know about the
ocean it swims in?
Malta, the southernmost part of the
South (about 100 kilometres south of
Sicily), an epitome of Mediterranean culture,
a point of reference to the whole history of
the region, the abode of a wellmeaning
people always ready to know itself better
and to welcome visitors: this is perhaps
the best way how to cut a very long story
short. It has a happy ending. One hopes
that Malta will eventually inspire Brussels
to adopt a specific policy involving member
states which constitute a category determined
by size and regionality. But then that is
another matter, and will warrant a different
sort of novel. Perhaps a novel about
absorption. The plea of the islander within,
the claim of any island, any place on earth
where humankind asks what and why.


55

Arabs and Palestinians in Israeli School Textbooks.
Changing the Perception of the Other

Yohanan MAOR

Rsum: En partant de lide que les programmes et les manuels scolaires
peuvent tre des instruments par lesquels les authorits publiques exercent
une influence sur les convictions, les aspirations et les perceptions des
jeunes, cet article analyse la manire dans laquelle les Musulmanes, en
gnral, et les Palestiniens, en particulier, sont prsents dans
lenseignement Isralien. Lanalyse et fonde sur une tude des manuels,
ralise par le CMIP. La conclusion confirme lobservation dun tournant au
milieu des annes 80, lorsquon a commenc une campagne ducative dans
lesprit de la coexistence pacifique avec les Palestiniens.
Keywords: ational Identity, Education, Recrimination, Conflict, Coexistence

ntelligence services of countries in
conflict devote considerable means to
finding out what are the real motives of
the enemy regarding the intensification,
curbing or settlement of conflicts. They
often provide contradictory evaluations, and
senior officials have difficulty in making
up their minds as to which to adopt.
The Israeli press reported such
contradictory evaluations with regard to
Arafats intentions during the Camp David
negotiations, before the outbreak of the
second Intifada at the end of September
2000
1
. According to one of the evaluations,
Arafat aspired to a peace settlement based
on the creation of a Palestinian state that
would recognize the state of Israel and
coexist with it. According to the other he
was looking to dismantle the Jewish state
by resorting to terrorism and to the
demographic weapon.
This contradiction could have largely
been overcome by a thorough investigation
of open official Palestinian documents,
namely the school textbooks devised and
produced by the Palestinian Authority (PA)
under the leadership of its chairman, Y.
Arafat, who, by way, was at that time also
in charge of the Ministry of Education
2
.
Textbooks give a unique insight into
the convictions, aspirations, ideas and
perceptions that governments and public
authorities look to instil into the younger
generation, by virtue of their ability to
direct, orientate or simply supervise the
content of educational curricula.
This ability is absolute in the case of
the Palestinians, since it is the PA that is
dictating the content of both the school
textbooks and the teacher guides used in
all Palestinian schools, be they public,
private or run by UNRWA, the United
I
Yohanan Manor


56
Nations Relief and Works Agency for the
Palestinian refugees.
In the case of Israel, this ability is far
more limited, but remains substantial through
the list of textbooks that the Ministry of
Education recommends for use each year.
In the public sector
3
80% of the school
textbooks used in primary and intermediary
education as well as 50% of those used in
secondary education come from this list
4
.
Many studies have been devoted to
the Israeli schoolbooks, some on specific
disciplines, others on different time-periods,
such as before or after the creation of the
State of Israel. All these works provide very
useful standpoints from which to view the
present situation in perspective
5
.
The present analysis is based on the
findings of two surveys carried out by the
Centre for Monitoring the Impact of Peace
(CMIP) on 500 Israeli school textbooks
that were in use in the school years 1999-
2000 and 2001-2002 for all the twelve grades
in the following disciplines: language,
literature, communication, history, geography,
civics, religious education and inter-
disciplinary disciplines
6
.
CMIP works as an observatory. It
pinpoints and presents all the references
relating, in one way or another, to the image
of the other. In the case of the Israeli
textbooks, it had noted all the references to
Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians.
The results of the CMIP analysis both
corroborate and exceed the findings of
other researchers, notably those of Daniel
Bar-Tal and Elie Podeh. On one hand, they
confirm their observation of a radical
turning point that occurred in the middle of
the 80s, and, on the other, they surpass
them in highlighting an active preparation
for coexistence with the Arabs and the
Palestinians.

A Radical Change
Professor Bar-Tal, of the Department
of Education of Tel-Aviv University, has
noted that societies involved in intractable
conflicts develop appropriate psychological
conditions which enable them to cope
successfully with this kind of protracted
and irreconcilable conflict situation. Bar-
Tal mentions several societal beliefs which
are instilled through the educational system
and are conducive to the development of
these psychological conditions
7
, among them:
the justness of ones goal, the opponents
de-legitimisation, positive self-image and
victimization
8
. His conclusion is that the
analysis of the school textbooks for language,
history, geography and civics recommended
by the Ministry of Education in 1994,
showed that the content of the textbooks
used in the 90s differed dramatically from
those used in the 50s and the 70s. The
emphasis on the societal beliefs whose
function was coping with intractable
conflict decreased considerably. Only a
small part of the school textbooks focused
on societal beliefs concerning security,
positive self-image and the victimization
of Jews. The de-legitimisation of Arabs
almost disappeared, but their negative
stereotyping still continued. Some textbooks
attempted even to transmit new societal
beliefs which promoted the peace process
and coexistence with the Arabs
9
.
Eli Podeh, Professor of Oriental Studies
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has
also pointed out that since the middle of
the 80s there has been a radical change in
the presentation of the Arab-Israeli conflict
in the Israeli textbooks for history and
civics. His diagnosis is even more clear-
cut than Bar-Tals, since he does not have
his reservations regarding the maintaining
of negative stereotyping. Podeh
distinguishes three periods in the history of
the Israeli textbooks: the childhood period
(1948-1967), the adolescent (1967-1985)
Arabs and Palestinians in Israeli School Textbooks

57
and from 1985 the adult, during which the
radical change occurred
10
.
During the childhood period, the
educational system focused upon instilling
Zionist values. The historical narrative was
simplistic, one-sided and often blatantly
distorted (p. 76). The textbooks of this
period were clearly filled with bias and
stereotypical descriptions, as well as with
errors, misrepresentations and deliberate
omissions. Arab history, culture and
language were almost completely ignored.
(p. 74) Savage, sly, cheat, thief,
robbers, provocateurs and terrorists
were typical adjectives when describing
Arabs. Their actions against the Jews were
dubbed riots and pogroms or the events
and their perpetrators labelled bandits.
Any information that might have marred
Israels image or raised doubts about the
Jewish right about the land of Israel was
instinctively omitted (p. 76, History &
Memory, op. cit.).
The first seeds of change began to
appear during the adolescent period. The
historical narrative was less biased and
contained fewer (stereotyped) expressions.
Moreover for the first time the Arabs
were not treated as a monolithic group but
divided into separate peoples, including
the Arab Palestinian people. The school
textbooks of the second generation were
not free of prejudice, but this was now
expressed in a more sophisticated, and
therefore perhaps more dangerous, manner
than in the past. If previously the text alone
was used to convey erroneous facts,
slanted accounts and biased opinions, now
maps, pictures, caricatures and diagrams
reinforced this information. Furthermore
sensitive issues such as the refugee
problem or the 1967 war, was treated in
much the same way as before: Israel was
absolved of all responsibility or blame
(pp. 80-81, History & Memory, op. cit).
But the watershed in the content of the
Israeli school textbooks occurred during
the adult period, notably as a result of a
directive, of February 1, 1984, sent out by
the Director General of the Ministry of
Education detailing the basic guidelines of
an education program oriented towards
Jewish-Arab Coexistence. There is a
clear shift in the historical narrative, from a
simplistic, unilateral and biased one to a
far more objective and balanced one.
Generally the Arabs are no longer
described in stereotypical terms. Indeed,
on the whole, these textbooks seem to
present a balanced picture of the Arab-
Israeli conflict. Even though it is still
viewed primarily from a Zionist perspective,
an attempt is made to understand the Arab
point of view, especially in discussions of
some of the sensitive issues in the history
of the conflict. While none of the new
textbooks is flawless, together they reveal
the extent to which Israeli society and the
educational system have progressed with
respect to the way the Arab-Israeli conflict
and the Arabs have been portrayed in
Jewish textbooks (p. 85 History &
Memory, op. cit).
In addition to the above-mentioned
directive, Podeh pointed out two other
factors to explain this drastic change in the
content of the Israeli school textbooks.
First, the appearance of a new
historiography based on newly released
archival material, which is more critical of
Israel and the Zionist movement than
before. Second, the improvements resulted
from changes in the Israeli society with
regard to the perception of the other.
Clearly, the changes in the history
curriculum and in the content of the
textbooks reflect a more mature society
able to regard self-criticism not as a sign of
weakness but rather as a source of
strength. (p. 61 Arab-Israeli, op.cit.). However,
in his eyes, these improvements are not
Yohanan Manor


58
sufficient. Further progress is needed by
strengthening the knowledge about the
other, through the teaching of Arabic
and of Arab history and culture.
In stressing all these factors, Podeh
was actually belittling the fundamental
importance of the 1984 directive, namely
that it reflected a political will to transform
the way to relate to the other. One can
find clear expressions of this political will
both in the guidelines of the education
program toward coexistence and in their
ongoing implementation by all the Israeli
governments, be they from the left or from
the right.
The preamble to the 1984 guidelines
stressed the vital importance for both the
Arab and Jewish pupils in Israel of two
tightly interrelated issues: Jewish and
Arab relations in Israel as an issue of civil
equality in a multicultural society and
Israels relations with its Arab neighbours
as an issue of relations between nations.
There will always be Arab citizens within
and among us, and there will always be
neighbouring Arab peoples. Ignoring these
two issues educationally means educating
the young generation toward ignorance
and alienation with regard to questions that
will always be at the very core of our
existence.
11
In addition, the preamble outlined the
necessity to differentiate and not to refer
anymore to the Arabs as a whole as
enemies:
The polarization between us and the Arabs as
enemies no longer constitutes the only pattern
of relations. At present, we are witnessing
different patterns of relations, and a distinction
has to be made:
We have peaceful relations with Egypt since
1979. Although today this is a cold peace, it
still passes two major tests that indicate
peaceful relations.
Morocco facilitated the peace treaty and openly
hosted Israelis. Countries like Sudan, Tunisia
and Oman overtly support the peace process;
According to the Camp David accords, the
Arab population of Judea, Samaria and Gaza is
supposed to be granted autonomy
The Arabs of Israel are citizens of the state and
constitute an integral part of it. According to
the Declaration of Independence, they are
entitled to equal rights and all Israeli
governments ever since statehood reiterated
this principle in their guidelines;
By contrast, some Arab states still continue
cultivating hostility and initiate belligerent
activity against us. Syria, Iraq and Libya are the
most prominent of these. In addition, the PLO,
in all its factions, aspires to perpetuate the
conflict and continue fighting against Israel by
all means, including the use of terror, until the
final destruction of the Israeli state
Hence the inescapable conclusion:
Therefore we can no longer educate
students to treat the Arabs as a single entity
and only in the context of the conflict.
Moreover, the preamble stressed that the
whole world is multicultural at present; the
distances between various cultures, both in time
and space, have been narrowed down. The
Middle East too is multicultural; the Israeli
state too is both a state and a multicultural
society. This situation compels us to develop a
new ability, the ability to maintain intercultural
contact on the basis of equality and respect for
the others culture. Imparting this ability is one
of the aims of the educational system, and our
ministry must help teachers find ways of doing
so ... Our students must realize that a different
and foreign culture is not inferior or superior to
our culture, and that all peoples, religions and
ethnic groups have a right to cultivate their
culture, even within the boundaries of another
state. Above all, we must implant in our
students the firm awareness that every person is
a human being, and that every human being
must be respected, even if he belongs to
another people, and even if he is a political
enemy.


59
The directive contained a detailed
comprehensive plan of action to achieve
these goals:
The relationship with Arabs and their culture;
Jewish-Arab relations and Israeli-Arab
relations will be part and parcel of the
educational process, from kindergarten and
through the twelve years of study in elementary
and high schools.
This relationship will be included, where
possible, in all aspects of school, primarily in
social activities and in the following subjects:
civics, social sciences, history, geography,
moledet [i.e. homeland] and literature.
The existing curricula (for all subjects and
levels), and the textbooks authorized for use,
will be evaluated with a dual aim. On the one
hand to eliminate wording if found- that
connotes hatred or the existence of negative
stereotypes and prejudice; and on the other to
add and integrate new content that coincides
with the aims that we have set for ourselves.
One has to recall here that this
directive was adopted when the Minister in
charge of education was Zevulun
Hammer, that is, not a member of secular
or left party, but of the National Religious
Party (NRP) that since 1977 had broken its
historical alliance with the Labor party
and entered in on-going alliance with the
nationalist right under the leadership of the
Likud. In order to understand the full
meaning of this decision to change the
perception of the other, one has to bear
in mind that Hammer was considered a
typical product of the generation of the
kipot srugot, the knitted skullcaps, the
head dress of modern religious which
replaced hats and black skull-caps. He was
instrumental in turning the NRP, from a
party whose main concern was religious
affairs into a movement with deep
involvement in foreign affairs and security
issues, while actively assisting Gush
Emunim, the Bloc of the faithful and
those in favor of settling Judea, Samaria
and the Gaza Strip
12
.
Active Preparation for Coexistence
The new educational and pedagogical
policy oriented toward coexistence was
carried out by all the successive Israeli
governments, in spite of both the changing
of coalitions composition, and their
ensuing policies, and the inexorable
deterioration in the Oslo process under the
blows dealt to it by its Israeli and
Palestinian opponents.
In the textbooks, this new policy was
implemented by focusing and giving
expression to five main themes:
Considering the other first as a human
being, Overcoming suspicion, hatred
and prejudices, Knowing and respecting
Islam and the Arabs, Admitting the
legitimacy of the opposing national
movement, presenting the conflict in a
more balanced way.

Regarding the Other First as a
Human Being
Several pedagogical devices have
been used to further this view among the
pupils. One of them consists in introducing
in literary anthologies and readers short
stories relating to the rescue by Jews of
Arab children and adults. For example, a
fourth-grade reader for state religious
schools tells of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem
during the Six Day War who, on entering
one home, found a blood-soaked Arab girl.
One of the soldiers ran under heavy fire
with her to an ambulance and thus save her
life. The girl has long since left the hospital
and returned to her family and parents, but
the friend who rescued her is still lying
wounded
13
. A fifth-grade textbook for
state schools tells the story of a Jew who
saved an Arab even though that same Arab
was among rioters who attacked Jews in
Baghdad in the 40s
14
. Of course there are
also stories of Jews rescued by Arabs, such
as the story of Abu Hamis, the most
Yohanan Manor


60
famous seaman in Jaffa illustrated by a
picture
15
.
Another device is to include in
anthologies and readers stories written by
Arab authors about the daily life of Arabs,
mostly without connection with the Arab-
Israeli conflict or the relationship between
Jews and Arabs. The objective here is to
provide the pupils with some knowledge
about the customs and the concerns of
Arabs in various countries
16
.
Legend of Picture: Jabalya refugees
camp in the Gaza strip. One of the
largest refugees camp where residents live
in very crowded and distressing conditions.
Evoking the suffering of refugees in
different places and periods is one way to
arouse the empathy of the pupils for the
other. For instance a textbook of geography
and demography provide information about
the three largest groups of refugees
created as a result of ongoing wars and
political conflicts: the Jewish refugees
during WWII, the Arab and Jewish
refugees resulting from the Arab-Israeli
conflict, the Rwanda refugees who
emerged as a result of inter-tribal wars,
with a Palestinian Refugees camp to
illustrate it
17
.
Another way to arouse the empathy
for the others is to bring their fears and
pain through extracts from stories and tales
written by Israeli writers
18
.

Overcoming Suspicion, Hatred and
Prejudices
Most of the researchers studying
Israeli textbooks have noted that since the
middle of the 80s there is a steady decrease
in the phenomenon of negative stereotypes
and de-legitimisation of Arabs, and that
these disappear almost completely from
the middle of the 90s. In addition to this
trend, the CMIP reports have observed a
notable effort to assuage the pupils
suspicion of the Arabs, to alert them
against nurturing hatred and to help them
overcome bias and prejudices
19
. Hence
there are stories showing how suspicion
can be turned into friendship.
For example, a reader for the seventh
grade used in the state school system,
quotes a passage from the book adia by
Galina Ron-Feder, about an Arab girl who
comes to a Jewish boarding school and
describes her fears that the Jewish girls,
one of whom lost a brother in a terrorist
attack, will not want to share a room with
her. Happily for her, she is warmly
accepted and one of the girls asks her to
share a room with her
20
.
Or again, there is the story of a
friendship that develops between an Israeli
boy and an Egyptian boy who meet at an
international youth conference in London.
It all begins when Amir, the Jewish boy,
was invited to join the Egyptian boys
soccer team and scored a goal. Said, one of
the Egyptian boys comes to Amirs room:
- I realized you are surprised by a visit from a
boy from an enemy country
I was looking for a chance to talk to you. My
older brother fell in Sinai during the last war
between our countries, but it would be stupid
for me to be angry at you for that.
- If so, were even because my father also
died in that war. He was among those who
crossed the canal.
Well, since that accursed war, I have thought,
that everything must be done to ensure that it
will be the last war. It may sound strange
because our radio, television and newspapers,
and even our textbooks feed us a diet of stories
about the evil Israelis, who stole the Arabs
homes. My teacher at school is a unique
individual, who has always cautioned us about
blind hatred and in his history classes, told us
about the sufferings of the Jews for 2,000 years,
even though there is no mention of it in the
textbooks. The teacher also told us what the
Nazis did to the Jews during WWII. In
general, he opened our eyes to many things,

61
which we were used to accepting without
thinking about them.
21
It is not easy for pupils to stand aloof
and not to internalise hatred of the
adversary or the enemy when this is the
dominant feeling at home, at school and in
the society at large. One way to take up
this challenge is to remind the pupils that
the world of the children is not necessary
the reproduction of the adult world. This
is the way a Jewish boy describes his
friendship with Abed, a Bedouin shepherd:
We did not have a common language, but
the hatred of the adults also hadnt yet
attached itself to us. Childrens games
dont need words.
22
It is relatively easier to arouse the
awareness of the children against bias and
prejudices. One can find an interesting
device in this respect in a reader for 13
years old pupils:
Many people think: the dove is a bird that
pursues peace. This belief is incorrect; it is a
prejudice: people believe it without checking it.
There are lots of prejudices. For example:
The Jews control the world and exploit all
those who live in it.
The blacks are inferior; they are incapable
of being scientists.
The Arabs only understand the language
of force.
During the year, make a long list of
prejudices. Write them down and keep them in
a special folder called Thats what they say,
but it is not true- prejudices. Try to find a
drawing or caricature that fits each prejudice.
Be ready to explain orally why these are
prejudices.
23

Knowing and Respecting Islam
and the Arabs
Knowing means, first, to acknowledge
that the homeland, the Promised land, to
which the Jews began to return in growing
numbers during the ninetieth century, was
not empty: its population was not confined
to the few Jews dwelling in it, as is
suggested in the maps of the early
schoolbooks, before the creation of the
state, which mentioned only the cities
inhabited by the Jews. This approach
persisted until the end of the 70s, and one
can still find some remnants of its in
current Israeli textbooks
24
. The present
approach is completely different, as is
shown by the following excerpt from a
textbook of history for the 14-15 year old
pupils, which quotes the words of Arthur
Ruppin, the head of the Palestinian office
of the World Zionist Organization, at its
eleventh congress in 1913: At first, the
Zionist movement believed that Eretz
Yisrael was empty of people In the
meantime, we have learned to see the
matters in a completely different way. As
of now, there are six times as many Arabs
in Eretz Yisrael as there are of us
25
.
Knowing means also having a
minimum of objective information about
the other, about the Arabs, theirs customs,
their history and culture.
The Israeli textbooks provide the students
with some basic knowledge about Islam,
its Prophet Mohammed, its five pillars, its
main holy sites, the meaning of Jihad and a
comparison with Judaism and Christianity.
One can observe expressions of respect
and even sympathy toward Islam, notably
in the textbooks of the state religious
sector, which outline the positive aspects
of Islam and suggests that Jihad is not
directed against Judaism and Christianity
26
.
Bravery, courage and a deep sense of
justice are mentioned several times as
characteristic cultural traits of the Arabs.
Some textbooks quote the words of Ahad
Ha'am, one of the most prominent Zionist
thinkers, after his first visit to Palestine in
1891: Our brothers are correct when they
say that the Arab respects only those who
show him bravery and courage. When he
feels that justice is with his opponent; not
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62
so if he justifiably thinks his opponent's
actions to be oppressive and stolen justice.
Then, even if he also remains silent, he
will restrain himself endlessly, but his
anger persists in his heart and he plans
revenge and bears a grudge.
27
The Arabs contribution to the development
of human civilization also is mentioned in
several school textbooks. For example a
history textbook in use in the state run
network stresses that the Arabs developed
a flourishing culture: From India to their
country, and from their country to the
countries of Europe, the Muslims transferred
numbers, which replace Roman numerals,
which were not convenient for mathematics
arithmetic functions. They also translated
into Arabic the rich literature of the
Greeks, which dealt with philosophy, science
and medicine. Afterwards, the peoples of
Europe translated these books from Arabic
into Latin, and thus the Arabs contributed
to restoring the cultural treasures of Greece
to the European peoples... However, the
Arabs were not simply cultural middlemen,
there were also creators of culture. For
example, they were the first to discover the
existence of infectious diseases. They were
also the first to build public hospitals.
Because of their considerable contribution
to various scientific fields, there are
disciplines that to this day are called by
their Arabic names, such as Algebra
28
What is even more noteworthy is the
express mention of the Arabs deep
attachment to the Holy land and to
Jerusalem.
A geography textbook devotes a
whole chapter to the attachment of
Christianity and Islam to the Land of
Israel, and quotes the late Professor Havah
Lazarus-Yaffe, an eminent specialist of
Islam:
The Land of Israel in general, and Jerusalem
in particular, have been sanctified more and
more in Islamic thought as Islam has
developed and spread both religiously and
geographically. As Islam absorbed more and
more of the world conquered by it, so it
adapted and Islamised the values that it
absorbed, including the holiness of the Land of
Israel, its flora and its water, living in it, the
sanctity of being buried in it and the like. All
these became from that time onwards part of
orthodox Islam An expression of the
holiness of the Land of Israel and Jerusalem in
Islam can be found in the erection of the pair of
mosques on the Temple Mount
29
.
In addition, after quoting this passage,
the authors of this textbook go on to write:
In the Land of Israel Islam sanctified
Jerusalem because of its importance to Judaism
and Christianity. According to the Muslim
tradition Jerusalem is the city of the forefathers,
the place of the binding [of Ishmael, not Isaac],
the arena of the activity of the prophets. After
the [Arab] conquest the name 'Bait al-Maqdis'
the city of the Temple was used for the city,
from which we learn that the special
significance of the city was that it contained the
Temple. From the eleventh century the name
al-Quds holiness became common. Other
names for the city are Ursalim and
Tzehayun- Zion.
30
Contrary to expectations, the implications
of this deep, joint, and one could even say,
rival, attachment to the Holy land and to
Jerusalem, are not avoided or ignored, but
explicitly referred to, as illustrated by the
drawing and the picture mentioned below.
An anthology for 15 years old pupils
contains the well known poem Jerusalem
1967 written by Yehuda Amichai, one of
the most famous contemporary Israeli poets:
The city plays hide-and-seek among her
names:
Yerushalayim, Al-Quds, Salem, Jeru,
Yeru, all the while
whispering her first, Jebusite name: Yvus
Yvus, Yvus, in the dark. She weeps
With longing: Ilia Capitolina, Ilis, Ilia.
She comes to any man who calls her

63
At night, alone. But we know
Who comes to whom
31
.
Legend of the Drawing: Jerusalem,
the city that is sacred to the three
monotheistic religions.
32
Legend of the Picture: The
Machepelah Cave in Hebron. This is the
name of the building in the picture.
According to the Book of Genesis,
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca,
Jacob and Leah are buried under the
building in the picture
33
.
The text in the frame under the picture
reads: It is interesting to know: The Cave
of the Patriarchs is holy not only to the
Jews, but also to the Muslims and the
Christians. In the building known as the
Cave of the Patriarchs there are a mosque
and a synagogue
34
.

Admitting the Legitimacy of the
Rival ational Movement
For a long time, the Israeli school
textbooks painstakingly avoided conferring
any legitimacy on the Arab opposition to
the Jewish national movement. The Arab
actions against the Jews in Palestine were
presented as the result of petty motivations,
such as the lure of gain, greed, the desire to
seize property or the thirst for power.
This approach has been replaced and
now the clash between Arabs and Jews in
the holy land is presented to the students as
a fight between two national movements
over the control of the same piece of land.
Excerpts from texts written by Zionist
leaders and thinkers, who since the end of
the nineteenth century had clearly
perceived the nature of the conflict, that
were for a long time considered
inappropriate for school curricula by the
people in charge of national education
have now been introduced into the
textbooks.
An instance of this is the case of the
writings of Yitzhak Epstein, a famous
teacher and educator, well known for his
scathing criticism, who at the beginning of
the twentieth century, in Palestine under
Ottoman rule, who called on his fellow
Zionists to grasp, and be fully aware of,
the actual nature of the problem: In
general we are mistaken in regards to a
great people This is the mightiest, most
excellent people in physical attainments
and in the skill of its understanding. We
must not belittle its rights (those of the
Arab people).The Hebrew people respects
not only the personal rights of each person,
but rather the national rights of each nation
and tribe.
35
His penetrating and famous article
entitled A Hidden Question, published
in 1907 in the Hebrew review Hashiloah,
in which he pointed bluntly to the vital
problem that the Zionist Jews in Palestine
had to grapple with, is now part of the
curriculum:
Among the difficult questions connected with
the idea of resurrecting our people on its land is
one question that stands clearly against them
all: the question of our relations with the Arabs.
This question, on whose correct resolution
hangs the rebirth of our national hope, has not
been forgotten, but rather has vanished entirely
from among the Zionists and in its true form is
almost never, mentioned in the literature of our
movement. The loyal Zionists have so far not
touched on the question of how we should act
towards the Arabs when we come to buy land
in Eretz Yisrael., to establish Moshavot
[villages], and in general to settle the land
Most of the land we buy from the large estate
owners When we buy such land, we
completely remove those who previously
worked on it. True, we will not send them
away empty-handed, we will pay them nicely
for the ruined houses and gardens, and in
general we will not be stingy with gold coins
during the time of the exemption. From the
standpoint of accepted justice and official
honesty we are completely just, entirely
lawfully. However, if we do not knowingly
want to deceive ourselves, let us admit that we
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64
have dispossessed poor people from their
meagre property and broken the staff of their
bread. Can we really persist on such a path of
purchasing land? Is it successful, does it befit
our objective? A hundred times no. Members
of the people that was the first to say and the
land will not be sold in perpetuity, and limited
the rights of the buyer in favour of the worker,
should not, cannot, expropriate their lands from
the hands of its workers, who settled on it in
good faith. But let us leave justice and
sentimentality for a moment and look at the
question from the standpoint of ability alone.
Will they be silent in the face of dispossessions,
calmly accepting what we have done to them?
Will they not ultimately awaken to restore by
force what was stripped from them by gold!
And this people is only a small part of the
larger nation, which holds everything
surrounding our country: Syria, Aram
Naharayim [Iraq], Arabia and Egypt
36
A further turning point was reached
when, in addition, the Arabs of Palestine
were viewed not only as part of the larger
Arab people, but as having a specific
national identity and establishing a specific
national movement.
Hence a history textbook, observing
that the 1936-1939 clashes in Palestine
which at the time were considered as
riots or disturbances by the Jews while
the Arabs called them Arab revolt,
pointed to their national character, stresses
that contrary to 1929, this time the Arabs
presented clear national demands.
37

Moreover, the exercise at the end of this
chapter asks the pupils the following
question:
C. The whole class should discuss whether
the contention that in the Arab Revolt there was
a clash between two national movements, is
correct. You should give reasons for your
conclusions.
38
Similarly, another history textbook for
grade 9 states that:
During the 1930s, Arab nationalist
movements evolved all over the Middle East.
Many of the Arabs of Eretz Yisrael also began
formulating a national consciousness in other
words, the perception that they are not just part
of the larger Arab nation, but also Palestinians,
inhabitants of Palestine. Therefore, there are
some who believe that the 1930s saw the start
of the fight over the land between nationalist
movements: the Jewish-Zionist movement and
the Arab-Palestinian movement.
39
A geography textbook even claims
that already before WWI this conflict has
had a national character
40
.
The most spectacular move to bring
the Israeli pupils to admit the legitimacy of
the opposing national movement came on
the initiative of Yossi Sarid, Minister of
Education in Ehud Baraks government
from May 1999 to January 2001. He pressed
for the inclusion in the Israeli curriculum
of a poem composed by Mahmud Darwish,
one of the greatest contemporary Arab
poets, the epic minstrel of Palestinian
nationalism and the main drafter of the
Palestinian declaration of Independence of
November1988. Several years before, an
apparently trivial poem by Darwish had
already been included in the curriculum,
but this time it was a very nationalistic one.
There was a general outcry. Not only
did the opposition, from the Likud (Right)
to Shinui (Center-Liberal), voice their
fierce opposition to Sarids initiative, but
even PM Barak, expressed his reservations,
arguing that the conditions were not yet
ripe for such a move. Darwish reacted to
this controversy by observing that: The
atmosphere in Israel is not ripe to deepen
the understanding of the other. I followed
the debate in the Knesset. I think that the
extreme right is not ready to recognize the
history of the Palestinian people, which is
linked to this country that it loves and for
which it longs.
41

65
The strong reservations of a large part
of Israels public opinion, motivated by its
strong concern that the recognition of the
enemys national legitimacy may affect its
own, underline even more the revolutionary
character of the changes introduced in the
Israeli curriculum.

Presenting the Conflict in a More
Balanced Way
A more balanced presentation of the
conflict implies, first and foremost, that the
school textbooks take into account the
most recent scientific literature, and do not
distort or omit embarrassing or shocking
matters. The first Hebrew school textbooks,
both during the Mandate period and the
first decades of the State of Israel,
mentioned only the existence of a Jewish
population, as if there were no Arabs in the
country. This is no longer the case today.
Several textbooks provide the pupils with
data about the Arab population of
Palestine both in the nineteenth and the
twentieth centuries
42
. The two Brawer
atlases, which are the most used in the
Israeli schools, for all the grades, give
detailed data about the demographic ratio
between the two peoples as well as about
their geographic distribution from the 30s
to present
43
. There is a series of four maps
headed Israel-Population detailing the
ratio between the Jewish and the non
Jewish population, in 1931, in 1947, in
2000, and the percentage of the population
living in towns and cities in 2000
44
.
Secondly, the purchase of lands by the
Zionist movement, and its role in the
confrontation between the two populations,
were finally brought to the attention of the
students. However this improvement is
insufficient, since generally specific data
are not provided to illustrate this major
factor in the confrontation between the two
peoples.
The Oslo Accords, which contained
the mutual recognition by the State of
Israel and the PLO, and set up a Palestinian
Authority to rule the Palestinian territories,
are presented in detail in one the above-
mentioned atlases. These accords are mentioned
in several school textbooks, sometimes
with their geographic and territorial
representation
45
. As an example of this a
geography textbook for the upper grades
present the Oslo Accords as follows:
In May 1994 the areas of the Gaza Strip and
Jericho from which the Israel Defense Forces
were to withdraw were defined and it was
agreed that there should be a transfer of
authority in these areas to the Palestinian
Authority. Twenty-seven years of Israeli rule
came to an endThe purpose of the second
Oslo Agreement was to enlarge the Palestinian
independent administration in the West Bank
by means of an elected ruling authority- The
Palestinian Council This agreement
prescribes a timetable for the redeployment of
the Israel Defense Forces and the division of
the area of Judea, Samaria and Gaza into
Different kinds of areas:
Area A- including the six large Palestinian
towns on the West Bank; in this area the
Palestinian Council was to assume full
responsibility for internal security, public order
and civilian matters.
Area B- including Palestinian townships and
villages (in which some 68% of the total
Palestinian population lives). In this area the
Council was to be responsible for the
preservation of public order and Israel was to
be the supreme authority in matters of security,
so that it should be able to safeguard the well
being of its citizens and fight terror.
Area C- including the uninhabited areas, the
regions where there were Israeli settlements
and locations that were strategically important
for Israel. In this area Israel was to retain full
responsibility.
46
This presentation is not accurate and
complete since it does not refer explicitly
to Palestinian territories, and does not
mentions the powers of each of the parties
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66
in civilian matters in Area B. The Brawer
atlas is more accurate and concise. It
provides a map indicating by different
colours these areas with a legend entitled
Territories of the Palestinian Authority,
which enables the pupil to grasp the
territorial and political meaning of these
accords.
It is unfortunate that the textbooks
themselves do not include any map of this
kind, even in a more simplified form. In
the best case one can only find evasive
descriptions such as: The name Palestine
serves today, particularly among the
Arabs, to denote all the territory of the land
of Israel west of the Jordan. Nevertheless
the Authority aspires to establish the State
of Palestine in the major part of Judea and
Samaria.
47
The lack of maps illustrating
the Oslo accords is a serious lacuna that
should be amended, as CMIP stressed in
2003 before the Council of Europe
48
.
The issue of the Palestinian refugees is
now also dealt with in a more objective
way. Till the end of the 80s this issue was
referred to indirectly, by mentioning
demographic changes in the region without
further explanations, or by explaining that
this problem was created by the Arabs
themselves, since they had fled their towns
and villages as a result of the fighting, for
fear of having to live under Jewish rule or
at their leaders instigation. Since the
beginning of the 90s, the responsibility of
the Israeli forces is also mentioned.
For example, a history textbook used
by state-run high schools, which devotes
an entire chapter to the creation of this
issue, starts by recapitulating the usual
reasons for the Arabs flight:
1. The flight of the leadership and wealthy
class already at the beginning of the war.
2. The deterioration of security and order in the
Arab towns and villages.
3. In any civil war there are necessarily
unplanned population exchange with no
guiding force behind them. A civilian
population concerned about its fate, justly or
not, moves to areas where soldiers of their own
people or religion are in control.
4. The organized appeal of the leaders of Arab
countries to the Arabs in Eretz Israel.
5. The horror propaganda broadcast by the
Arab media about incidents in which the
Jewish forces compelled Arab residents to
leave and harmed the civilian Arab
population.
49
Alongside these reasons the author
mentions a new historical explanation
offered by one of the so-called new
historians, Benny Morris. According to
him the main catalyst for the flight was
the attacks by the Hagana, Ezel, Lehi and
Israel Defense Forces and not the calls or
instructions of the leaders of Arab
countries or of the Supreme Arab Council
and the Mufti.
50
A more recent geography textbook
includes naturally this explanation among
the reasons for the Arabs flight:
During the war of Independence, between
500,000 and 900,000 Arab refugees left their
homes. They left behind their possessions and
planned to return to their homes after the
fighting ended. There were a variety of reasons
for their departure: some sought to distance
themselves from the dangers of war, some
listened to the directives of their leaders who
called on them to leave their residences and
thereby facilitate the Arab armies conquest of
Israel, and some were expelled during the
fighting by various Israeli elements.
51
This explanation is of course also
included in the renowned school textbook
by Eyal Naveh, issued in 1999:
During the fighting, many of the local Arabs
were expelled. Some of them fled before the
Jews reached a village or Arab neighbourhood
in a city, and other were expelled by the
conquering force. Tens of thousands fled to
neighbouring countries primarily to Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria in the hope that, with the

67
help of these countries, they will one day return
to their previous places of residence. Many
became refugees in camps set up in the Gaza
Strip, West banks and neighbouring
countries
52
.
Any objective presentation of a
conflict in textbooks requires not only that
the pupils be taught correctly, honestly and
completely with its basic elements, but that
they also be informed of the point of view
of the other side on the conflict, preferably
in its own words, quoting its own
documents, as once recommended by
UNESCO
53
. In order to inform the pupils
about the point of view of the nascent
Arab national movement on Zionism, at a
time when the ruler was the Ottoman
Empire, one textbook quotes from an
article published in those years in an Arab
newspaper:
Palestine is a pure Arab country surrounded
on all sides by pure Arab countries. The
national yearnings started emerging and
intensifying among the Arab nation that resides
contiguously in its territory. The only people in
these Arab countries are Arabs there is no
possibility of another people, with an
independent language, different customs and
traditions and a contradictory political ambition
living with them
54
.
A more recent school textbook gives
excerpts from an appeal to the Ottoman
authorities, published on September 16,
1911, in Filastin, a Christian Jaffa-based
newspaper calling them to fulfill their
obligation and not to allow Jewish
immigrants to remain in the country
55
.
A history textbook for high school
students, used both in state and state
religious schools, presents in full another
Arab appeal by The Centres for Justice,
voiced soon after the Balfour Declaration
(November 2, 1917) and the Feisal-
Weizman agreement (January 3, 1919):
A voice is Calling to the Arab People in
Southern Syria (Palestine)
The Jews are trying to separate Palestine from
Syria and the rest of the Arab countries, in
order to become the rulers of this country.
Palestine is a natural part of Syria, there is
nothing separating them; the residents of Syria
are like us, their leaders are like our leaders and
their interests are connected with ours. Uniting
Palestine with Syria and the rest of the Arab
states is the only way to happiness for the Arab
nation and the Arab countries
There are only 60,000 Jews in our country and
they have not even the slightest right to our
land and have no connection to it. We, the
Arabs, number more than a million people
here, and therefore the land belongs to
us.Therefore, protect your country, your honor,
your spirit and your property. Demand that
Palestine and Syria be one, free, Arab state; and
that foreigners have no influence in this
country.
56
For a long time, the Israeli school
textbooks used to describe as riots and
disturbances perpetrated by gangs of
marauders and outlaws what the Palestinians
consider as a national uprising. A history
textbook brings this Arab Palestinian view
to the attention of the pupils in quoting
verbatim the text of a resolution adopted
by the Arab High Committee, a body set
up on April 25 1936, to coordinate the
activities of the various factions among the
Arabs of Palestine: In April 1936, local
national committees were organized in all
Arab cities around the Istiklal
[independence] Party, and the Arab Higher
Committee was established. The committee
declared a general strike that would
paralyse economic life in the country. Its
purpose: to exert pressure on the British
government to fulfil the committee's demands:
1. Prohibit Jewish immigration; 2. Prohibit
the transfer of lands to Jews; 3. Establish a
national government that would be
responsible to a representative council. If
these demands are not met the general
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68
strike will continue, until the British
government fundamentally changes it
current policy, the first step being the
halting of Jewish immigration
57
.
Another device to enable the students
to grasp both the views and feelings of the
adversary, is to invite them to try and
enter into its mind, to contemplate
events and developments from his point of
view and to attempt to imagine his
feelings. For this purpose, a history
textbook suggests the following exercise:
4. Divide into groups representing Jewish
journalists and Palestinian journalists who have
been sent to cover the discussion in the United
Nations Organization leading to the Partition
resolution. A. Prepare a report that will include
details about the discussion in the UN, the
position of some of the states participating in it
and the results of the discussion, the vote and
the reactions to the resolutionC. Discuss with
the whole class the differences between the
reports of the Jewish journalists and those of
the Palestinian ones.
58
Similarly, an interdisciplinary textbook,
devoted to the socio-demographic,
technological, climatic, topographical,
political and economical aspects of water,
as a vital resource for the whole region of
the Middle East, proposes a simulation
game, with the explicit purpose of reaching
the maximum regional cooperation that will
ensure by peaceful means a fair division of
water, to understand the special needs of each
country in the regionThe class is to be
divided into groups of 9 pupils each. Each
pupil in a group will be the representative of
one of the countries in the Middle East
participating in the peace conference The
parties participating in the discussion must
reach a rational arrangement that is in accord
with the treaties on water rights. The condition
for the approval of the arrangement for the
division of water is its acceptability to the
representatives of all the countries participating.
The arrangement is to be approved by the
United Nations The game continues until
arrangements have been reached with all the
countries.
59

Conclusion
What is perhaps the most striking and
impressive trait of the Israeli school
programs and textbooks is that they do not
to seek to build the national identity of the
Jews of Israel upon the rejection of identity
and national legitimacy of the Palestinians.
It seems rather that their objective is to
prepare the pupils to accept this concurrent
legitimacy.
The Israeli textbooks bear witness to
the efforts made for more than twenty
years to change the perception by young
Israelis of the Arabs and the Palestinians,
to perceive them both as individual human
beings who should not be labelled who,
like the Jews have among them nasty
people and decent people
60
and as a
people having a legitimate national
movement, despite the illegitimate means
to which it resorts against the Jewish state
and its citizens. These efforts have not
been halted by the steady deterioration in
the process set in motion by the 1993 Oslo
Accord sealing their mutual recognition
and the renunciation of violence and terror
as a means to resolve the conflict between
the two peoples. As stressed above, these
changes were the result of a political
decision, and are manifest above all in the
state general network and in the state
religious network, but not to the same
extent in the haredi [ultra-orthodox] sector,
whose textbooks are still marred by some
offending and condescending expressions
61
.
Yet, some recriminations have been
voiced against Israeli textbooks. What do
they assert? A thorough examination of
these recriminations shows that they have
no serious grounds. For instance Maureen
Meehan refers to outdated research or to
children's literature, a complete different

69
area which is not under the control or
responsibility of the government
62
. Nathan
Browns criticism is based on unofficial
texts circulated in some classes and on oral
comments supposed to have been voiced
by teachers
63
. The EU Commissioner in
charge of External Relations, Chris Patten,
was not able to substantiate his insinuation
that Israeli textbooks were also marred by
intolerance and incitement
64
.
Till now, the radical change monitored
in Israeli textbooks regarding the image of
Palestinians and the legitimacy of their
national movement has not been emulated
by the Palestinian schoolbooks. The major
flaw of the later is their implicit incitement
against the Jews and Israel by denying
their nationhood and by building Palestinian
national identity on the rejection of the
legitimacy of Jewish national movement
65
.
The international community, particularly
the European Union, can play a decisive
role in convincing the Palestinians that
they too have to turn the page.

otes
1
See Ha'arez, June 15 2004, June 16 2004,
June 18, 2004 and Maariv, June 15, 2004
reporting the controversy between General
Amos Malka and General Amos Gilad, who in
2000 were respectively the head and the
director of research of the Military
Intelligence.
2
The textbooks produced by the PA did not express
any recognition of Israel or any aspiration to coexist
with it. See CMIP's report Jews, Israel and Peace in
Palestinian School Textbooks 2000-2001 and
2001-2002, November 2001 and also Y. Manor
Les manuels scolaires palestiniens: une gnration
sacrifie, Paris, Berg International, October 2003.
One of these textbooks, The Palestinian Society-
Demographic Education, Grade 11(2000), p. 29,
called explicitly for resort to demographic weapon
to win the Arab-Israeli conflict.
3
The public sector is divided in three sub-sectors:
mamlachti (state) 54% of the pupils, mamalachti
dati (religious recognized by the state) 18% of the
pupils and Arab, 18% of the pupils. The private or
"independent" sector although receiving public
funding, is solely responsible for the content of its
textbooks and the recruitment of its teachers; it
contains mainly the ultra-orthodox haredi
networks of the Agudat Yisrael and Shas parties.
4
See Report No 49 of the State Controller, Mevaker
Hamedinah, April 1999, pp. 209-210.
5
For instance Binyamin Kalman, The Image of the
Arab in the Eyes of the Young. What has changed in
the last 15 years (Hebrew) in Iyunim baH'inukh,
No. 27, 1980, pp. 65-74; Ruth Firer, The Influence of
Zionist Values on Schoolbooks in the Hebrew
Language Dealing with the History of the People of
Israel in the Land of Israel 1900-1980, (Hebrew),
PhD, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Daniel Bar-
Tal et al., The Image of the Arab in Readers: The
Development of Political Knowledge, (Hebrew) Tel-
Aviv, Hamoul 1985; Binyamin Herzl, The
Presentation of Arab-Jewish Relationships in History
Textbooks With Regard to the Arab-Israeli Conflict,
(Hebrew)Tel-Aviv University, Department of
Psychology, 1987; Daniel Bar-Tal & Shmuel Zoltak
Representations of the Image of the Arab and of the
Relationships between Jews and Arabs in Readers
(Hebrew) in Megamot, vol. 32, (3), 1989, pp. 301-
317; Yoram Bar-Gal, The Image of the Palestinians
in Geography Textbooks in Israel, Journal of
Geography, 1994, 93, (5), pp.224-232; Polish-Israeli
Committee on School Textbooks,
Recommendations for Correcting History and
Literature Textbooks in Israel and Poland,
Jerusalem and Warsaw, 1995; Daniel Bar-Tal , The
Rocky Road toward Peace: Beliefs on Conflicts in
Israeli Textbooks in Journal of Peace Research, vol.
35, No. 6, 1998, pp. 723-742; Ibidem., Societal
Beliefs in Times of Intractable Conflict: The Israeli
Case, The international Journal of Conflict
Management, 1998, vol. 9, no. 1, (January) p.23; Orit
Ichilov, Citizenship education in a Divided Society:
The Case of Israel in Judith Torney-Putra, John
Schwille & Jo-Ann Amadeo (ed), Civic Education
Across Countries: Twenty- four National Case
Studies from the IEA Civic Education project,
Amsterdam, 1999; Orit Ichilov & Idit Livne, Civics
in Israeli Middle schools: Analysis of Curricula,
Schoolbooks and Teachers Guides. Research
Report. (Hebrew), Tel Aviv University, Sociology of
Education and Community, March 2002; Orit
Ichilov, Political Learning and Citizenship Education
under Conflict, London & New York Routledge,
2004; Elie Podeh, The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Israeli
School History and Civics Textbooks 1953-1995,
(Hebrew), Truman Institute, Peace Publications, No.
9, Jerusalem, 1997 and History and Memory in the
Yohanan Manor


70
Israeli Education System, History and Memory, vol.
12, 2000, pp. 65-100, and The Arab-Israeli Conflict
in Israeli History Textbooks, 1948-2000,
Westport/Connecticut & London, 2002.
6
CMIP, Arabs and Palestinians in Israeli
Textbooks, September 2000; CMIP Arabs,
Palestinians, Islam & Peace in Israeli School
Textbooks, July 2002. These reports are
hereinafter referred to as CMIP, 2000, and
CMIP, 2002, respectively.
7
Daniel Bar-Tal, Societal Beliefs, op.
cit., p. 23.
8
Ibidem. pp. 25-29.
9
Ibidem. p. 44.
10
Elie Podeh, History and Memory, op. cit.,
pp. 74-85, and Arab-Israeli Conflict, op. cit,
pp. 26-74.
11
For the English translation of this directive,
except two technical paragraphs, see Podeh,
Arab-Israeli Conflict, op. cit., pp. 157-160.
12
See Susan Hatis Rolef (ed.), Political
Dictionary of the State of Israel, New York &
London, Macmillan, 1987, p. 139. Gush
Emunim was founded in February 1974 as an
extra-parliamentary religious Zionist
movement, which advocated the extension of
Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and
the Gaza Strip.
13
Esther Columbus et al., Open the Gate,
Reader for Grade 4, (Hebrew) 1993,Tal,
Ministry of Education, p. 186.
14
Nathan Perski, The New Israel Readers,
(Hebrew), 1987, Massada, pp. 181-184.
15
Ilana Arieli-Meir, Journey to the First
Settlements, Reader, (Hebrew), Tal, Ministry of
Education, 1992, p. 66. Hamis story is taken
from Avraham Cohen, Did I Understand?
(Hebrew), Reches, 1993, p. 222.
16
Rina Tzadka, Reading Selections for Eight
Grade, 1992 (Hebrew), Horev, pp. 76-84; P.
Shirav et al. Nuances [Migvan], Literary
Reader, for Grade 7, (Hebrew), Neta, Maalot,
1994, pp. 150-151; Mira Levinger & Bracha
Abecassis, Leaves of Literature, Reader for
Grade 9, (Hebrew), Modan, 1998, pp.112-
115.
17
A. Rapp & Z. Fein, People in the Expanse-
Studies in the Geography of the Worlds
Population, (Hebrew), Matah, Ministry of
Education, 1997, p. 154.
18
Miri Baruch & Dalia Stein, Strings, Reader
for Grade Six, (Hebrew), Massade, 1997, pp.
224-227.
19
See CMIP, 2000, p. 7 and CMIP, 2002, p. 2.
20
Baruch & Stein, Strings, op. cit., pp. 264-267;
Dalia Korach-Segev & Varda Weinberg,
Literature-Fiction, Reader for Grade Seven,
(Hebrew), Modan, n.d., pp. 103-106.
21
Rivka Giladi, Story and Song- Let's Get
acquainted, (Hebrew), Grade 6, Zak, 1985, pp.
360-361.
22
Miri Baruch & Dalia Stein, Strings for
Grade 5, (Hebrew), Massada, 1994, p. 43.
23
Avraham Cohen, Op. cit., p. 259.

24
See Chapter 28 "Statistical data" and Chapter 29
Maps in CMIP, 2000, pp. 111-123.
25
E. Domka (ed), The World and the Jews in
Recent Generations, Part I, 1870-1920, (Hebrew),
Zalman Shazar Institute, 1998, p. 230.
26
On all these aspects, see CMIP, 2000, pp. 14-25.
27
Tsipi Elder & Lili Yaffe, From Conservatism to
Progress, History for Eighth Grade, (Hebrew),
Maalot, Ministry of Education, 1998, p. 374; E.
Domka (ed), Op cit., p. 229.
28
Akiva Doron, Hava Frankel, Kizia Tabibian &
Malka Kaz, From Generation to Generation.
Lessons in History for the State Religious
Schools, Part II, (Hebrew), Maalot, Ministry of
Education, 1994, p. 220. See also detailed
chapters on these topics in M. Zimmerman et al.,
Lessons in History for State Schools, Part II:
From the Rise of Rome to the End of the Middle
Ages, (Hebrew), Maalot, Ministry of Education,
1987, pp. 213-219. Rabbi Dr. Moshe Auerbach,
History of Israel, from the Destruction of the First
Temple to the Present, Vol. 2, Part II: From the
Crusades to the Expulsion from Spain, (Hebrew),
Yeshurun, 1993. Dr. S. Shavit (ed), History of
Israel and the Nations. Part I: From the Rise of the
Roman Empire to the Messianic Movement Led
by Shabbetai Zvi, (Hebrew), Maalot, Ministry of
Education, 1987, pp. 204-218.
29
G. Zohar, H. Leon & R. Peleg, This is the Land-
Introduction to Land of Israel Studies, (Hebrew),
Yad Ben Zvi, Ministry of Education,
Experimental Edition, 2000, p. 161.
30
Ibidem.
31
Shirav et al., Op. Cit., p. 252. (Translated
by Stephen Mitchell, Poems of Jerusalem, a
Bilingual Edition, by Yehuda Amichai,
Schocken Publishing House, 1987.)
32
Rina Ben Shachar, That Is To Say-
Language, Expression and Communication,
(Hebrew), Grade 5, 1999, p. 149. This
drawing was taken from an exhibition
Children Draw Jerusalem.

71
33
A. Tirosh & B. Geller-Talithman, With
Joshua Pupil's Workbook, (Hebrew), Reches
& Yavne, 2000, p.72.
34
Ibidem.
35
Tsipi Elder & Lili Yaffe, op. cit., p. 374.
36
E. Domka, op. cit., pp. 230-231.
37
K. Tabikian, Journey to the Past- The Twentieth
Century, By Dint of Freedom, (Hebrew), 1999,
Matah The Center for Educational Technology,
1999, p. 137.
38
Ibidem, p. 150
39
Eyal Naveh, The Twentieth Century On the
Threshold of Tomorrow, History for Ninth Grade,
(Hebrew), Sifrei, Tel Aviv, 1999, p. 85.
40
R. Peleg, (ed) The Northern Land [of Israel]
Galilee, Golan and the Valleys Through the
Generations for Upper Grades, (Hebrew), Yad Ben
Zvi & Ministry of Education, Curricula Branch,
41
Interview with Mahmud Darwish by Tom
Segev, Haaretz, March 10, 2000.
42
CMIP, (2000), pp. 111-113.
43
Moshe Braver, Atlas for the Elementary and
Middle Schools, (Hebrew), Yavne, 11th edition,
1999; Physical, Political and Economic Atlas,
(Hebrew), Yavne, 11th edition, 2000.
44
Reproduced in CMIP, 2002, p. 46.
45
See CMIP, 2000, pp. 101-105 and CMIP,
2002, pp. 7-10.
46
G. Zohar, H. Leon & R. Peleg, op. cit., p. 8.
47
Ibidem, p. 4.
48
The case of the Israeli textbooks, a paper
presented to the session of the sub-committee of
the Political Affairs Committee of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, devoted to The Suppression of
Provocative Language and Incitement to Hatred
and Violence in Israeli and Palestinian
Textbooks, October 24, 2003, Paris.
49
David Shachar, From Exile to IndependenceThe
history of the Jewish People in Recent Generation,
vol. 2, (Hebrew), Idan, 1989, pp. 308-312.
50
Ibidem. p. 312.
51
A. Rap & Z. Fein, op. cit., p. 153.
52
Eyal Naveh, op. cit., p. 138.
53
A Handbook for the Improvement of
Textbooks and Teaching Materials, as Aids to
International Understanding, UNESCO, 1949,
Chapter X, pp.123-135.
54
A. Eliezri & M. Geva, Zionism Tested in
Action, (Hebrew), Maalot, Ministry of Education,
55
Cf. Tsipi Elder & Lili Yaffa, op. cit., p. 370.
56
E. Domka, op. cit., p. 283.
57
Cf. A Eliezri & M. Geva, op. cit., pp. 125-126.
58
K. Tabikian, op. cit., p. 294.
59
M. Dressler & R. Zuzovski, Water in the
Era of Peace- Learning Unit about the Water
Problem in our Region and Ways to solve it,
(Hebrew), Reches, Publishing and Kibbutzim
Seminar, 2000, pp.151-152.
60
Rivka Motzafi & Michal Shachar, What's
the Connection? What's the Interpretation?
(Hebrew), n.d., Reches, p. 184.
61
CMIP, 2000, pp. 12 -13, and CMIP, 2002,
p. 4, pp.33-35.
62
M. Meehan, Special Report. Israel
Textbooks and Childrens Literature Promote
Racism and Hatred towards the Palestinians
in Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,
1999, pp. 19-20.
63
Ibidem. p. 20 and Nathan Brown, Democracy,
History and the Contest over the Palestinian
Curriculum, Adam Institute, November 2001,
p.6.
64
See Yohanan Manor, Les manuels scolaires
palestiniens Une gnration sacrifie. Berg
International, 2003, pp 134-136.
65
On the content of Palestinian schoolbooks,
see. Y. Manor, op. cit., and also the six reports
issued by CMIP, the first two relating to
Egyptian and Jordanian textbooks adopted by
the PA and the remainder to the new
textbooks authored and produced by the PA to
replace the Egyptian and Jordanian books:
Palestinian Authority School Textbooks
(1998); Palestinian Authority Teacher's Guide
(2000); Jews, Israel and Peace in Palestinian
School Textbooks 2000-2001 and 2001-2002
School Textbooks and High School
Examinations 2000-2001 and 2001-2002
School Textbooks. The New Textbooks for
Grade 3 and 8 (2003); Jews, Israel and Peace
in Palestinian School Textbooks. The New
Textbooks for Grade 4 and 9 (2004).



72

The Implications of the Commercial Transactions
through Settling Up in the Conditions of
International Economical Globalization

Ion-Viorel MATEI

Rsum: La tendance de passer de linternationalisation la globalisation
de la vie conomique a t un des aspects essentiels de lvolution mondiale
pendant le XXe sicle. Cette tendance a t observable dans le domaine des
changes commerciaux, des investissements trangers et des structures
organisationnelles daffaires.
Keywords: Globalization, Internationalization, Production, Commercial Operation

characteristic feature of the business
mediums evolution on a world
scale in the second half of the XX
century, has built the tendency to pass from
internalization to globalizing the economic
life. This tendency has subscribed also in
the commercial transaction domain (the
world commerce expansion), of investments
in foreign countries (product internatio-
nalization), of organizational business structures
(the companys internationalization).
In the last decade, under the influence
of numerous factors of economic, technologic
and politic nature, the internationalization
process has entered a new phase, that of
emerging a global economy, built on an
interdependence system in commerce,
production, services and the financial
domain.
Actual world economy is characterized
by a new technological base, by extending
and intensifying international commercial

transactions, modifying the rapports of
force in the economical and political-
military plan and a new modality of
defining the relation between national and
international.
Showing the economic relationships
on a world plan and creating an international
business medium was realized by two big
processes: the growing world commerce and
fast development of the investments in
foreign countries.
International commerce has known, in
the past two decades, a powerful and
almost constant expansion, devastating the
growth of the industrial production, and
PIB on a world scale. This way, in 1950-
1998, the world commerce has grown (in
constant prices) for 87 times, while the
industrial production has grown 9,5 times,
and PIB by 8,5 times. This means that, for
the world countries, a large part of
production is realized by exports and
imports, that the interdependence of the
A
The Implications of the Commercial Transactions through Settling Up in the Conditions of International
Economical Globalization

73
national economy in the productive and
commercial domain has intensified.
Accentuating international interdependences
by the commercial fluxes results from a
major mutation, which has took place in
the world commerce domain: the pass
from structures and reports of base
products type contrary to manufactured
products (intersectorial interdependences)
and than to changing the products in a
frame of branches and under branches of
industry or in the frame of a group of
products (intraindustrial interdependences).
The developing of the intraindustrial commerce
reflects the process of progressive deepness
of the international division of work in the
decades after closing the last world
configuration.
On the other hand, statistic dates
concerning the geographic distribution of
world commerce shows us that the
internationalization process has not developed
in a homogenous way in the frame of the
world economy. Indeed, in the year 1998,
the different procedures of groups of
countries in the international commerce
was the following: developed countries
66,6%, countries still developing 29,6%,
countries with an economy in transition
3,8%. The difference between the groups
of countries is more accentuated if we refer
to the changes in the manufactured/industrial
products; in this case, the numbers are the
following: (Export:) developed countries
71%, countries in development 25,7%,
countries in transition 2,9%.
And so, the internationalization process
was realized integrally on the globe, a
powerful concentration of the interdependence
between the developed countries being
manifested, in the race in frame of the
USA triads Occidental Europe
Japan. The weight of the three in the world
commerce in the year 1997 was the
following: occidental Europe 37%, USA
14,7%, Japan 7%.
Developing the commercial relationships
in the contemporaneous period was the
result of numerous factors, in which we
remind:
Technical progress, which has had
direct impact and over the
international commerce. If since the
60s it was talking about the pass from
industrial society to the post-industrial
society, hardly in the past two decades
the nature and accounts of this
become to be visible. In the economic
domain, these are synthesized in the
informational economy collocation,
which is based on new technologies.
Technical progress determinates in a
direct way the depth of the international
division of work, studying more and more
the intra-industrial and intra-product type
specialization; on the other hand, this
impact is limited to the countries and
zones in which is affirmed and valued the
technological advance. In other words, the
international commerce is extended there
where conditions needed exist for
manufacturing the technical progress. On
the other hand, actual technological
developments, especially in the industry
domain of elaboration, tend to modify the
premises to compete in the international
businesses. So, the countries which are
based on intensive industrial exports in
manual labor risk losing, in terms of
competitive position, in the new conditions
on the world market. Concomitantly, the
new material industry departures the
natural limits of the growth and reduce the
rent associated to some products
considered irreproducible.
The accentuated production of
international commerce, in the second
half of the XX century was owed to
tendencies of imposing liberalism.
The economical performances obtained
in the occidental countries by promoting
the market economy and, in contrast,
Ion-Viorel Matei


74
economic failure of the command at
the end of the 80s, have represented a
clear argue and economic doctrine.
The fast development of the international
commerce was valorized by the
freechangable orientation of the commercial
politics in the main countries participating
at the world market. At the same time,
following the export successful example of
Southern-East Asia (Japan, South Coreea,
Taiwan, etc.) a huge number of developing
countries have adopted economic growth
strategies based on the export stimulation.
An essential role in eliminating the
tariff and untariffed barriers from the
international commerce way has revert
GATT/OMC. In exchange, the United
Nations Conference for Commerce and
Development, which has purposed to
contribute to the instauration of some more
equitable relations between North and
South Coreea and promote an international
commerce put in the growth and
development service, has entered, after a
period of intense militates, in the 70s, in a
persistent cone of shadow.
Liberalization of commerce in the last
decades of the XX century, it is shown
in the following distinctive characteristics:
it has a starting point the developed
center of the world economy,
constitutes a dominant tendency on a
world scale, even if the elements of
protectionism are meet in the realities
North-North and even in North-South;
they have a base institutionalized on a
world level, represented usually by
OMC and other organizations of
global or regional vocation; it is
applied not only in the commercial
relations domain, but also in the one
of financial international relationships.
Another contributing factor to the
development of international commerce
is represented by the processes of
economic regional integration. If these
processes have been taken in different
forms and at different intensities in the
developed world and in those in
transition, the greatest example is
represented by the integration of the
East European countries in the
European Union.
The integrationist organization has
proven that, in a short historical period, a
special capacity of training new members,
which reflects the expansion tendency of
the project at a continental scale. More to
that, the European Unions performances
demonstrate the deep progressive integration
in the intra-communitarian space and, in
parallel, the growing role of the Union as a
centre of economic and commercial power
in the world economy. Statistic dates
confirm those above. This way, the
ponderation of the European Union in the
world commerce was 40,4% in 1991 and
37,6% in 1998.
In what concerns the outer investments
we can appreciate that these differ from
the international commerce by many
aspects. If the commercial relationships
presume interdependence between parts of
money-product relationships (supply-
market), outer investments create and
develop direct reports in the production
domain. Economically, an investment in a
foreign country implies an option for
internationalizing the economical activity,
in the character of products, goods and
services.
Analyzing direct outer investments,
we observe that these purpose the
implication of the investor in the companys
management in the host country, him
taking part of the apportionment of the
profits and the business risks. This can be
realized by funding a new company, or
buying a set of actions from a company of
the foreign country. In a conventional way
it is considered that the acquisition of a

75
cote of over 10% of the social capital of a
foreign company represents a direct
investment.
If the commercial operations are based
on the relation of type debtor-creditor, the
outer investments lead to the stabilization
between partners of some reports based on
the spirit of association.
The partners are associates, not buyers
or sellers, and have in the background of
the company a position determined usually
by the cote owned in the social capital.
And so, the business relationships dont
have an impermanent or strict character
limited by time, but to gain a durability
and permanence character.
As it is known in the second half of
the XX century, the process that indicates
the increasing of economic inter-
dependences has carried on in more stages:
the 50-70s, characterized by the
expansion of the international commerce;
the 70-80s, in which the international
financial relationships gain a special
importance; the 90s, in which the passing
from internationalization towards globalization
in world economy takes place.
A series of aspects of the social-
economic life from our days reflect the
process of globalization: the global nature
of science and technology; even if the
main sources of the technical progress are
concentrated in the developed world, the
scientific research is based on global
resources, and putting the technology to
application concerns global interests; the
global marketing: the marketing strategy
of the companies respond to the
globalization requests and promote this
process (universal marks, (focusing the
consume, advertising culture etc.); the
world financial system: the symbolic
world economy is based on a network that
implicates, at a global scale, the bank
institutions and the capital market agents,
national reglementation systems, international
finance systems etc.; the communication
infrastructure: the technical progress has
permitted to perfect the material
communication systems (transports), the
realization of a mass-media cover at a
world scale (CNN) and, especially,
instituting a global network of transmission
/reception of information (INTERNET);
the world institutional frame: a series of
organizations of governmental nature (the
ONU system) or nongovernmental (ONG)
promote the discussions and actions that
concern the global problematic: pollution,
criminality, sub-development etc.
The main economic processes that
sustain the tendency of globalization are
manifested in the domains of production
and services (generally, financial); and the
fundamental promoter force is the
multinational society.
Under the impact of the determinant
factors of the internationalization process it
has been produced a growing expansion of
the international division of work, with the
tendency to construct a system of inter-
dependences on a global scale.
Even if in the post-war years it has
been determined a zone of large
concentration of exchanges the triad
in the world work division network there
have been attracted progressively new
states and groups of states: the new
industrialized countries, and, in the last
decade, the Middle and East Europe
countries. This state of things demonstrates
that globalization is the formation of a
global economy that involves regional
specificity.
The process of globalization is
simulated also by the interdependent
development of international commerce
and the outer investments in foreign countries.
Compared to other historic times, at the
present more and more companies, and
firstly the multinational societies, adopt
business strategies that involve directly the
Ion-Viorel Matei


76
global state, the world market in ensemble.
In the frame of these strategies, there are
practiced different forms of international
transactions from the category of
commerce, of cooperation or forms of
implantation or combinations of these.
Globalization is helped by the creation
of commerce effects too, which are
generated by different regional integrationist
groups or institutional arrangements or
multilateral. These because in the conditions
in which there is manifested a strong
tendency of fond towards globalization, all
the regional concentration zones of
commerce or international arrangements
made to simulate the companies to
compete tend to be attracted in the world
commercial circuit and to be subordinated
to the dominant trend.
The essential role of globalization is
constituted by the multinational society.
By the available data in the middle of the
past decade of the XX century, in an
average of 45% of the total selling of the
multinational societies are represented by
exports; these societies control almost
totally the international commerce with
base products; and the finite industrial
product markets are mostly global
(meaning electronics, the main powerful
industry in the productive annual system).
On the other hand, since over two
decades ago a substantial cote from the
developed countries exports (above 50%
from the American exports, almost 80% of
the Britannic exports) and of the new
industrialized states (over 90% for
Singapore, above 40% from Brazil) are
generated by multinational societies. From
where the conclusion that world economy
is formed so by the process of market
globalization.
If the development of the international
commerce reflects the extension process of
the international division of work and
market globalization, the remarkable growth
of the importance of intra-industrial
commerce (in the frame of some industrial
subsides, of some groups of products or
intra-product) expresses the process of
depth of international division of work.
To this process correspond tendencies
of world integration of production, which
is generated and controlled by the
multinational societies. The cote from the
internationalized production (estimated on
the base of the multinational societies
activities volume in the country of origin
and the selling of their subsidiaries in
foreign countries) reached in 1998 32% of
PNB for USA, 24% for Japan and 42% for
Holland.
The main mechanisms of interna-
tionalization and globalization of production
are represented by: the productive valuing
of a technology in foreign countries by
license or other forms of transfer of
technology towards mixed societies, subsidiaries
or branches from third countries; de-
localization of production by sub-contracting
and creating an international productive
system of cooperation in productions at an
international scale; realizing fusions and
acquisitions constituted by large industrial
groups at a global scale.
The internationalization of production
is doubled by the internationalization of
services, in a process that reflects in the
world economic circuit the post-war
tendency of growth of the third sectors
importance again, in report with the
secondary sector, in economy. And in this
process the multinational societies play the
role of driving forces. These processes are
tightly bounded, so that we can talk about
a kind of third-industrial global complex.
The new technologies tend to industrialize
the production of services and to thriven
the productivity of goods. Two categories
of services have contributed in a decisive
way, especially in the years 80 and 90, at

77
globalizing the business relationships: the
consulting and financial ones.
The third and multinational societies
have begun implicated more and more in
transactions by the financial international
markets; they are diversified towards
financial activities, they are financializing.
Even this diversity of activities
industrial, third, financial integrated in a
network of conglomerate fives the specific
of global multinationals.
On the other hand, the financial operations
of the large international banks and the
multinational societies drive to integrating
the international financial markets, and the
capitals movement tends to become in a
large state autonomous, in report with the
finance of production and exchanges.
A financial global private system is in
course of becoming a structure, including
the network of multinationals, commercial
and investment banks, Euromarkets, markets
of derived financial products, the large
financial world markets, which show
generally the process of internatio-na-
lization and globalization of international
commercial transactions with all the
consequences for the participants at the
stages.

Bibliography:
1. BARI I., Economia mondial, Editura
Didactic i Pedagogic, Bucureti
1997.
2. BRAN P., Relaiile financiare i
monetare internaionale, Editura
ECONOMIC, Bucureti, 1996.
3. FOTA C., Economie mondial,
Centrul de Informare i documentare
Economic, Academia Romn,
Bucureti, 1994.
4. MATEI V., NEOIU L., Tranzaciile
Comerciale Internaionale, Editura
Universitaria, Craiova, 2002.



78

Terrorism Motivation or Violation of Human
Rights

Adrian BOGDA

Rsum: Le terrorisme est un des phnomnes les plus grave qui menacent
la paix et la scurit mondiale. Cet article est une approche juridique de ce
phnomne, prsentant les normes nationales et internationals qui le
condamnent.
Keywords: Terrorism, Human Rights, Conflict, International Law.

Introduction

owadays, terrorism represents an
important problem; given the
proportion of the phenomenon, it
endangers even the international peace and
security.
Boutros Boutros Ghali emphasized
the connection between the human rights
and the international security, showing
that: Observance of the human rights is,
cleanly, an important factor in maintaining
the international peace and security and
also the social and economic development
1
.
Thus, terrorism affects the very inter-
national security and peace.
This crime is very serious since violent
methods are used, putting in danger innocent
peoples lives. The methods include: murder,
arsons, explosions, kidnapping, etc.
A recrudescence, of the terrorist acts
has bun noticed lately. The terrorist danger
has become more and more serious.
Romania took the first steps in the
fight against the terrorism in 1926, where
in the League of Nations, it supported the
necessity of an international action against
the terrorism.
In 1935, the Romanian doctrinaire
Vespasian V. Pella elaborated a project of
convention concerning the foundation of
an international law court which should
punish the terrorist acts.
The Convention in 1937 referring to
the prevention and repressing of the
terrorism stipulated that it is envy states
duty to avoid any act meant so favour the
terrorist activities against another state and
to prevent the terrorist actions.
For a better understanding of this
phenomenon we should start from its
causes.
The UN documents concerning the
international terrorism mention two categories
of causes: economic and political or
ideological causes. The economic causes
are: poverty, suffering and despair of
certain human communities who using
these radical solutions try to attract
peoples attention to certain situations
N
Terrorism Motivation or Violation of Human Rights

79
which require to be urgently solved. The
political and ideological causes are the
fanatism and the extremist or nationalist
state interests
2
.
Etymologically the term terror
comes from the Latin terror
3
.
The concept of terrorist is of Arabian
origin, designating a hashish consumer,
who under the drug influence and being a
member of a fanatic Muslim sect was used
by the leaders of the group to strike terror
and panic into the unfaithful heart through
violence and crime
4
.
Now, an important problem is
represented by the so called nuclear
terrorism which means the use of the
nuclear materials for terrorist goals.
Mass-media tried to attract publics
attention, showing that some radioactive
materials were removed from the former
Soviet Union. It is about of the almost 100
nuclear suitcases which disappeared
from the military warehouses and which
could destroy a whole town.
Taking this into account it is necessary
that the security of the nuclear plants
should be strengthened.
The terrorists access to the nuclear
materials would give them the possibility
to put in danger the whole community
only by spreading these materials.
Thirteen cases of the sale of the
nuclear materials which could be used for
weapons have been recorded in this period: 5
cases in Russia, 3 in Czech Republic, 3 in
Germany, 1 case in Lithuania, 1 case in Italy
5
.
Unfortunately, an international definition
of terrorism could not be formulated up to
now.
Although, there are more national
definitions, these differ from one institution to
another.
For instance, in the USA the terrorism
is defined by the FBI as the the illicit use
of force or violence against persons or
premises in order to intimidate or force a
government, the civil population or a part
of this for the accomplishment of certain
political or social objectives
6
. On the
other hand, the State Department defines
the terrorism as premeditated violence,
politically motivated, against the civil
population, used by the sub national or
surreptitious agents, usually intended to
influence the public opinion
7
.

Terrorism motivation for the
observance of human rights
The international defining of the
terrorism is difficult since terrorist acts can
be regarded from two points of view.
One perspective is that of a state
victim of the aggression which considers
these types of actions as crime.
This point of view is shared by most
Western countries and by the U.S.A.
The opposite point of view is based on
the confusion between terrorist acts and
the right to self determination of the
nations.
The supporters of terrorism consider
any activity of this type as a patriotic duty
necessary to obtain the independence of
that territory.
There have been cases when certain
terrorist organization claimed that their
actions aimed at the respecting of the
human rights. But their means contradict
their claims based on a false motivation.
Thus, the self-determination right cannot
be invoked in case of group or national
minorities as it is in case of nations.
Most adepts of this doctrine have
considered it absurd to give the right to
self-determination to national minorities
since they are part of a nation.
A favourable answer to this question
would mean creating a series of
international conflicts caused by territorial
claims laid by national minorities.
The result of such an action would be
the dividing of the existing countries into a
Adrian Bogdan


80
multitude of smaller states since no nation
is pure, but includes minorities.
Nicolae Titulescu mentioned that the
duty of a state towards its minorities is
universal, both legally and morally
Goodwill most be a characteristic of the
mutual relations between a nation and its
minorities.
8
Another motivation for terrorist acts is
revenge meant to cause a prejudice against
a source of material or moral offence.
Both national and international laws
forbid these actions considered crimes.
There are legal means so be used the
prejudiced, and violence is not on of them.

Terrorism seen as a violation of
human rights
The international community has
repeatedly condemned terrorism as a
violation of human rights.
Within the legislation focused on the
above mentioned phenomenon we
mention:
1. UN General Assembly Resolution
number 49/185 of December, 23,
1994
9
.
2. The International Treaty on civil and
political rights.
3. The International Convention against
hostage-taking in 1979.
4. The European Convention against
terrorism in 1977.
5. The Hague Convention against plane
hijacking in 1970.
6. The International Convention against
terrorism financial support in 1999.
The effects of terrorist acts violate the
right to life and integrity guaranteed by a
series of human rights documents.
Murder is incriminated by all
legislations because infringes upon the
most important human rights - life.
This rights has also a social dimension
since society world cease to exist if this
rights were not guaranteed.
A type of society which world allows
the right of every individual to kill is
unimaginable because in this case, self-
preservation instinct would make him
isolate himself which would lead to the
dissolution of the human society.

Conclusions
Since terrorism manifests more and
more aggressively a concerted action of all
the states is necessary to eradicate this
phenomenon which defies human life.
Such acts cannot be justified since
they bluntly break the international laws,
no international provision allowing the use
of violence.

otes
1
Boutros Boutros Ghali, Report upon the
activity of the UO General Assembly, New
York, 1992, p. 45.
2
Vasile Ciuvat, Public International Law,
Universitaria Publishing House, Craiova, 2002,
page 172-173.
3
Which means frighten, terror, panic.
4
Oleg Balan, Terrorism international crime,
Chisinau, 1998, p. 7.
5
Oleg Balan, uclear terrorism mith or
reality, Law and Life Magazin no.11, 1998, p.
26.
6
Cristian Jura, The International Terrorism, All
Beck Publishing House, Bucharest, 2004, p.
20.
7
Cristian Jura, The International Terrorism,
All Beck Publishing House, Bucharest, 2004,
p. 20.
8
Nicolae Titulescu, Pleadings for Peace, The
Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest,
1996, p. 121.
9
Which mentions that: all the terrorist acts and
methods are clearly incriminated since they
represent activities which infringe upon human
rights, fundamental freedom and democracy,
endanger territorial integrity and state security,
undermine legal governs and the pluralist civil
society and have a negative impact on the
social and economic development of the states.

POLITICAL THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

81

A Strategy for the Conservation of the
Participative Democracy Real Character

Cristina PIGUI

Rsum: Aprs la chute du rgime communiste roumain,
lapprofondissement de la fosse entre les elites le people a eu pour rsultat
une frquente non representation des citoyens dans le processus lgislatif et
dans plusieurs autres circonstances. Cet article discute les possibilits de
rgler les contradictions intrieures de la socit roumaine par
lintermdiaire de certains instruments de la dmocratie participative.
Keywords: Participatory Process, Elites, Citizens, Community.

he engagement of the national
community in the decision making
process and in the governmental
policies means the validation of the
governmental elite conducts (often legitimated
through vote) by the citizens.
The interaction citizens national elites
(called participative democracy or participatory
democracy) is a means for maintaining the
social cohesion and avoiding the breakage
of the equilibrium between legitimization
and social justice
1
. Marc Crpon, Bernard
Stiegler showed that the participatory
democracy is not a pleonasm. The participatory
democracy as a direct democracy may
be opposed to representative democracy,
but it musnt misinterpreted as a form of
populism
2
.
After the communist regime collapse,
the augmentation of the precipice between
Romanian elites and citizens (the lack of
the political coherence, stability and the
political partisan tendencies, etc.) determined
that national elites do not represent, sometimes,
the citizens, in the law-making national
process or in other circumstances
3
. The
regulation of the contradictions inside the
Romanian society will be done through the
instruments of the participatory process
(democracy) enlarged by the local to
national level
4
.
The premise of the engagement of the
participative democracy process is the
citizens motivation to take part in the
decision making process. Three reasons
motivate the citizens to preoccupy
themselves by the problems of the society
they belong to and to be free by their
personal troubles:
A. Order.
B. Direction.
C. Protection (Security).
Point A means the normal and real
performance of the institutions of society
and it represents the premise of the control
of interactions between the representants
(elected) and the represented people. The
author of this study contends that it is
T
Cristina Pigui


82
necessary to introduce a new concept: The
Concept of the Minimal Public Order of
the society in which the participative
democracy is able to perform
5
. This
concept supposes the fulfillment of the
objectives of society institutions at least in
so little/big coefficient as to secure the
existence and performance of the entire
social system.
Point B signifies the direction and
tendencies followed by Romanian elites
that must represent, as much it is possible,
the assimilation of the personal tendencies
of each of the society members.
Point C reflects the life level of the
citizens: social security, unemployment,
etc. In this context, it is necessary to adopt
a common consensus regarding the
significance of the term of decent life in
the present conditions of civilization, on
the international arena.
The citizens implication in the political
decisions making process is possible only
in decent conditions of life; on the
contrary, it may be affected by the distrust,
selfishness, ignorance and indifference due
to their poverty.
The politicians wondered themselves
how real the citizens representation is in
the participative democracy
6
. Despite the
fact that, only the final effects of this
process can show us whether the
representation was true real nevertheless
the education and the ignorance level or
the false political willingness (the vide
rhetoric) can undermine the real character
of the participative democracy. In these
conditions, we propose a decisional strategy
axed on the three pylons:
The first step: the dissemination of the
information towards the audience concerning
the political problem debated. There is a
descendent interaction at this stage
(authorities towards citizens).
The second step: the accumulation of
the public opinions through the specific
means: debates, media, reunions, etc.
There is an ascendant interaction at this
stage (citizens towards authorities).
The third step: the chosen of the
optimal variant from the citizens views
and its promotion (the propaganda);
The fourth step: the evaluation of the
effects of this variant in the social
relations, after the propaganda;
The fifth step: the compulsory behaviors
prescribed by the authoritative national organs.
The first and the second step represent
the vertical interaction citizens-Romanian
elites (authoritative organs) and it must realize
them in a transparent manner based on:
a) Consistency.
b) Accessibility (the equitable chances of
participation).
c) Continuity.
d) Complete cognition of the problem
details .
The third step is a very important
instrument for attaining the principal aim of
the debates: obtaining the viable solutions
considering a minimal level of life.
The propaganda is a strategic means
for gaining the common profit. It seems to
be the same as the publicity in the respect
of its persuasive power of suggestion.
The use of the propaganda without the
coverage of the first and the second step
degenerates into dictatorship, but, at the
same time, a democracy is deficient if it is
not aware of the power of this instrument
to move the masses.
The evaluation of the effects after the
promotion (the propaganda) of the optimal
variant chosen as a result of the
community consultation will determine the
passage towards the fifth step to render
the binding decision- or the recurrence of
the entire process, commencing with the
first step. The recurrence of the entire
process is not expensive because the
second cycle may involve a limited
consultation at the expert level.
A Strategy for the Conservation of the Participative Democracy Real Character

83

ROMAIA ELITE

CITIZES

The decision equation often presents
many variables divided into two categories:
1. the variables regarding the organizers;
2. the variables concerning the citizens.
Regarding point 1, the capacities of
Romanian elites differ relatively to their
vision and profundity or other personal
characteristics as the administrative and
managerial skills, etc.
The community of citizens, who take
part at the decisional process, can confront
itself with the subjectivism in the
appreciation of the best alternative of the
solutions following from the differences
existing between their mentalities and
values, their life experience, etc.
These variables have to known at the
beginning of the deliberative process for a
correct and representative selection of the
target group, who will take part to
deliberation. Their cognition permits to
avoid the risks in solving the problems
debated. The supplementary advantages in
the decision making process through the
public consultation are: courage, energy,
originality, etc.
The elite attention must focus for each
public consultation process the extraction
of the following unknown:
- the values shared by the majority of
the citizens and their corroboration
with the desires of the minority;
- a greater fulfillment of the goals of the
majority considering the aspirations of
the minority (the compromise);
- the obtaining of the social cohesion
majority-minority through an adequate
distribution of the national resources
in the decision content;
- The stipulation of the express and
exhaustive exceptions and, also, of all
the particularities that consolidate the
rule from decision;
- The anticipation of a determined period
of the decision enforce according to
the evolutional stage that claim it (its
limits).
This linkage will permit to complete
the lack of stability in Romanian politics
SELECTION, EVALUATION

OPINIONS
Cristina Pigui


84
and to achieve a vision for a coherent
development.
Each system or microstructure is
interested in the accumulation of its own
benefices. The adoption of the unpopular
decisions out of the participatory process
will suppose the formation, remuneration
and instruction costs of a repressive
machine entitled to enforce them. This
alternative is more expensive than to
promote a sustained policy of education
and social protection in a adequate and
gradual way.
Concluding, the unpopular decision
adoption will determine a lack of balance
between the costs implied over the
benefices gained.
The predominance of the advantages
over the risks of the participatory
democracy consolidates the allegations
aforementioned; the advantages of this
process are
7
:
The integration of the conducts of
Romanian governmental elites with the
community aspirations in a functional
mechanism.
The control of the evolutions of the
community goals and their domains of
manifestations.
The coordination of the power
movements, the reconciliation of the
electoral masses of governmental
power and opposition.
The consecration of the state that
based its politics on the participative
process as a more credible and
powerful actor on the international
arena.
In other words, the participative
democracy is the fundamental premise of
power for its existence, conservation and
development.
The Romanian governmental elites
must avoid the subsequent risks of the
participatory process, mentioned below as
an alarm signal
8
:
The dissipation of the solutions of
problem debated in many variants
difficult to follow.
The prolongation of the time necessary
for the decision adoption.
The insufficiency of the resources
allocated for the beginning and
overseeing the debate process.
The organization of the debates
having the exclusive motivation of
using the special funds afforded or
promoting the false impression of the
popularity of a certain governmental
program though there is not a real
intention to consult the citizens.
Patricia White wrote in her book
Beyond Domination: An Essay in the
Political Philosophy of Education
9
that the
participatory democracy is based on the
fundamental moral presumption of the
equality of all human beings as choosers.
Nevertheless, it is also true that the people
tend to participate politically if they
believe that their participation will affect
significantly the outcome. A common
feature of the contemporary societies is
that many people contend that they have
better things to do than vote or involving
in the participatory process because they
can do nothing to change the reality of
corruption, bureaucracy, etc. In this kind,
the autocratic elements are protected
against the progress.
Many scholars
10
theorized that a
society with periodic plebiscites would be
structurally depoliticized. In fact, the
initiatives and efforts of the citizens to
share the governmental responsibilities
threat the replacement of the politics with
the corruption.

A Strategy for the Conservation of the Participative Democracy Real Character

85
otes

1
The JJ Roseau, GDH Cole, JS Mill theories
of the participative democracy are described in
Participation and Democratic Theory de
Carole Pateman; Cambridge University Press;
pp. 22-45, (1970)
2
Marc Crpon, Bernard Stiegler, De la
dmocratie participative: Fondements et
limites Edited by : Mille et une nuits, p. 5-20
(8 march 2007).
3
Patricia White, Beyond Domination: An Essay
in the Political Philosophy of Education,
Routledge, p. 13-19, 87-91 (1983).
4
Jean-Jacques Degrange, "Construisons une
Dmocratie Participative", Alotime Editions,
p. 20-45 (2006) presents the convergent vision
of the different current approaches (e-
democracy, direct democracy, local
democracy), in a harmonized frame.
5
The New Haven school - Professors Mc
Dougal and Reisman, advanced the concept of
public minimal order on the universal plan.
6
Blondiaux, Loc. 11 November 2004
Dmocratie dlibrative et dmocratie
participative : une lecture critique ,
Confrences de la Chaire MCD. This author
dilemmas regarding the participative debates
are :
a. the dilemma of representativeness : the
statistic representativeness or the politic
representativeness ?
b. the dilemma of the equality : integration
places or political exclusion factories ?

c. the dilemma of the scald : policy of
proximity or incitation to augmentation,
anyway ?
d. the dilemma of the competence : rational
argumentation vs profane expertise.
e. the dilemma of the conflict : factories of
consensus or places of controversies ?
f. the dilemma of the decision : the illusions
of democracy or sharing the responsibilities?
7
Before the power, it is clear that only the
source of the participative democracy will be
capable to give life of a more humane vision to
money (Michel CHOSSUDOVSKY, La
mondialisation de la pauvret , Edition
Ecosocit, Montral, p. 207, 1998).
8
In 1925, Walter Lippmann published his book
Phantom Public . The Lippmann book is a
ferocity critic of the government of public
opinion because he affirms that the citizens
have not the sense of reality objective and he
plaids in favor of a representative government
assisted by the experts councils. In the next
years, John Dewey wrote his book "Le public
et ses problmes" and he redefined the public
itself, distinguishing the citizens informed by
the manipulable citizens according to
Lippmann. For Dewey, the first category of
citizens are a part of "public".
9
See supra note 3, p. 14-17 (1983)
10
Jrgen Habermas, The Concept of Political
Participation, International Political Science
Association, p. 37 (1967)



86

The Media and the Representation of Politics

Clin SIESCU

Rsum: Cet article discute la manire dans laquelle le politique est
reprsent dans les mdias. Les points principaux de la discussion sont: les
dlimitations conceptuelles, les formes du discourse politique dans les
mdias, la prsentation des vnements politiques quotidiens, le rle des
mdias dans la cration de la conscience politique et des configurations
politiques nouvelles.
Keywords: Medias, Political Discourse, Political Configuration,
Dramatization, Personalization

Media: conceptual delimitations

he term media whose French
version comes into circulation in
1973 under the name les mdia,
with its roots in the expression mass
media, introduced in France in the 50s, is
open to multiple significations and
interpretations.
Le Petit Larousse Dictionary gives the
term media the following definition: any
support for spreading the information
(radio, television, written press, books,
PCs, video, satellite telecommunication,
etc) that forms in the same time a way of
expression and an intermediary that
conveys a message addressed to a group.
The terminological shift and the hesitation
expressed by it over the last decades prove
that sometimes was taken into
consideration the support and the channel
of transmission, sometimes the use and the
meaning value produced by it.
This statement is illustrated by two
arguments: One of Francis Balle (1985),
that maintains as correct a definition
centered in the same time on the sender
and on the ways of expression that it
authorizes, as well as on the usage of its
role: Media represents in the first place a
way an instrument, a technique or an
intermediary that allows people to express
themselves and to communicate with
others this expression, no matter the object
or the shape of this expression. A media
way defines itself in the same time through
its utility, which defines a role or a function
that succeeded imposing themselves, as well
as the best means of fulfilling this role or
this function.
Second definition belongs to
Dominique Wolton (1997), that insists on
the values, references and conceptions of
communication, usually propagated by the
media. He states that the existence of a
media way sends always to the existence of
a community, of a vision of the reports
T

87
between the individual and the collective
stage and to a certain representation of the
public eye.
The media should be in the first place
sees as a whole of production technology
and of transmitting messages through a
channel, or support (journal, paper, Hertz
waves, cable, etc) towards a terminal
(receiver, screen, etc) or as a main product
of this technique (journals, books, shows,
etc). Secondly, they should be seen as an
economic, social and symbolic organization
(with its functioning modalities and
multiple social actors) that treat these
messages and make way to multiple uses.
Assuming the role relies not only in the
transmission of the messages or as an
interface with the user, but also in
calculating the entire process from the
sender to the receivers. This way, the
media has a technical (material) dimension, as
well as a social (representations) one, that
evolves over time, considering the space
and the social groups that make use of it.
Nowadays, the expression media
names a variety of supports and enterprises,
which are not, as a matter of fact, a homo-
geneous universe, but a pluralist one, well
differentiated and at times fragmented.
In reality, this word often used as
anodyne as well hides strong disparities
among supporters, sensible differences in
the positioning towards the public,
inequalities on the internal scale of legitimacy,
as well as a great heterogeneity of professional
environments that encompasses.
To speak about the media generally
constitutes an ease in facilitating a language
that does not really take into account the
diversity of objects and situations that this
term actually covers. This approach leads
not only to underestimating the particularities
of diverse information supports (written or
audio-visual) but even to ignoring the
differences of aiming recipients.

Politics and the Media
In Bernard Lamizets opinion (2003),
the media means are major actors of the
political space, giving it its language,
esthetics, forms and logic through which
the engagements, political options, decisions
or debates acquire a symbolic consistency.
Subscribing itself into these stabilized
frameworks of representation, the political
fact receives through the media a certain
consistency and signification. As long as
there is no discourse and no symbolic
representation, which supply its substance,
the politic has no symbolic consistency
and no significance aside which the public
opinion could situate itself. In reference to
this, the representation must be conceived
in its two significances: the simultaneous
existence of representations that personify
the political fact in the exercise of its
mandate and the elaboration of
representations that give its consistency
and significance of constitutive symbolic
practices of the public space.
Information represents, nevertheless,
the primary process of the formation of
political space; from the moment of
elaboration and spreading the information
regarding the actors of the power zone, we
are witnessing the birth of the public space
in its symbolic consistency (images,
discourse, representations) as well as its
real one (media broadcasting assures the
presence of information on an entire
territory that becomes really a public
space). It is understood that for the citizens
to acquire a political conscience, to allow
them to assure a critical and judgmental
functioning, the media must communicate
to them ahead of time the information
needed for feeding the public space.
Media, under its various shapes, hands
political significance to institutional activities
and events that in succession form the
political community life. This becomes,
Clin Sinescu


88
through them, an object of information
placed under public debate.
Through the spreading of information
into the public space, media gains a double
role: on one hand, cuts spreading the
rumor, stabilizing the information into a
real discourse, known being the fact that
once the object of information takes a
written or broadcasted word or image, the
politic gains shape that is no longer
transformed by the process of broadcasting.
On the other hand, subscribing the politic
under the molds of language, make it
interpretable, in a certain way that it gains
an interpretable consistency of a symbolic
system of representations.
Media presents in the same time to a
large audience the action modalities of
political actors, allowing users to form an
opinion of their own not only on the basis
of presenting events and activities from the
public space, but also through the staging
of representations of actors in the political
space that by acquiring a certain notoriety
and media visibility, become real
identities, across which one can express a
preferential position.

The Forms of Political Discourse in
the Media
The Media hold essentially political
discourses that carry in the whole a certain
orientation and a political commitment,
concretized in a number of headlines and
columns in a journal, or in the sequence of
moments when we talk about written press
or the audio-visual.
The Editorial text is, by excellence,
the place where it is announced the
political positioning of the media outlet
and therefore of its identity, fact that
justifies its apparition in a specific format
under the signature of the Director or that
of the Editor in Chief. The editorial text
turns the media into a political actor,
determining it to express a specific option,
to build an identity that will distinguish it
from other media outlets from the public
space and makes it militant.
The Chronicle is another type of
engagement, slightly different from the
editorial, whose author could be or not part
of the journals staff members. The
authors option represents an option of that
particular journal, the chronicle being
placed at a certain distance from the event
or daily fact it comments. This position of
a distant commentary confers the chronicle
the statute of a political discourse.
The Review for institutions is a
discourse about an event, but in this case
the event is of political nature and therefore
needs, basically, a political review. This
review and the narrative discourse of the
political life represents for the media
privileged political discourse enunciations,
while these activities are using specific
political vocabulary and language build on
databases and political information and for
initiating an activity of information, which
although wasnt formulated explicitly,
raises the awareness and implication of the
readers or audience and, consequently,
builds a type of communication politics.
The Portrait of political actors represents
a type of enunciation whose form and
object are essentially political; through these
portraits, media produces a representation
of the political fact, contributing to its
staging and imagistic representation.
The Media Presentation of the political
actors reveals medias theatrical political
role, as well as the modality in which these
actors interpret their imaginative roles.

Media and the Daily Political Factor
Through the regularity of its
apparition, the media inscribes the political
fact into a daily temporality. Via this daily
becoming, the media acquired the role it
has today: marks the development of
political life, renders a certain rhythm by

89
synchronizing with this symbolic temporality,
a temporal media-broadcasting and
building this way a continuation over time
of the political factor.
This rhythm is necessary for the
creation of the political mediation that will
allow intelligibility, agreement among
communication subjects and sociability, as
well as the formation of their citizenship
on the basis of a real social divided time.
This construction of the political time by
the media renders visibility to institutional
life events. The existence of a political life
calendar allows the integration of political
time in social temporality in the same way
in which the rituals inscribe religious time
in daily temporality of believers, for
ensuring their engagement and sense of
belonging.
This highlight of the daily fact by the
political life, due to events and
communication practices, allows everyone
to take part to institutional life and fully
assume citizenship.

Media and Political Conscience
It is well known the fact that the
media played an essential role in the
formation of political conscience, especially
around the end of the 18th Century and the
beginning of the 19th. Due to their
diffusing and penetration in the social
space as a whole, the media contributed to
its closer positioning to the mass of
citizens, turning the political communication
into a common one, a regular activity of
symbolic life, like all other preoccupations
we have, that mark our everyday life.
Through this daily highlight of information,
through relating this way to the facts of all
social life events, a true political culture
could be build practically, a political
perception of the constitutive events of
sociability as a whole.
This way, the media participates at the
formation of the political thought and at its
closeness to citizens in the process of
acquiring a political conscience. By
elaborating and suggesting modalities of
understanding and interpretation through
integration of the discourse on events and
political facts in an entity of information
aiming at the daily knowledge accumulated,
the media proposes means of under-
standing the world that will fill it with
significance. It catches our attention and
raises our anxiety, incites our curiosity and
tests our vigilance, turning us into active
and consequently aware citizens.
The media diminishes the dimensions
of the world, making it more familiar and,
consequently integrating in our political
conscience all events, actions and
sociability forms out of which the media is
made. Political thought is build, due to the
media, in all its complexity of forms and
implications and therefore we are able to
understand all the events presented to us,
aiming to produce the evolution of the
belonging to our institutions and in the
end, of our political sociability.

Distancing from - and rejecting of -
the media
The distancing of the subject of
communication from the media corresponds
actually to the lack of interest manifested
by the public in what the media is concerned
and especially toward the political event it
carries. This disgust or boredom that the
reproducing or interpreting of a political
fact produces makes also reference (in B.
Lamizets opinion) to a cultural lack among
audiences, unprepared to receive the
nature of information, as well as the lack
of its political engagement desire.
Given the conditions, media will
proceed to a re direction of the political
discourse, pushing it away from the
citizens engagement and from the
political fact, with the purpose of regaining
Clin Sinescu


90
the attention of the audience eager to
receive the message.
Although this distancing of the audience
means also a distancing of the media itself
towards the political space, sometimes it
tries to regain the readers interest. This
way, the birth of a new kind of printed
press took place that of the
miscellaneous events and so called general
information, without explicit involvement
(which does not exclude any type of
engagement) and without an open political
discourse. This way, the predictions are
that we are going to witness a split in two
of the public space, further and further
from one another: one of the information
and public debate and a second one of the
entertainment and sensation.
The distancing from the media and the
political fact has a lot to do also with the
rejecting attitude manifested by the political
actors. The rejection of communication and
their mistrust in the media and journalists
could be closely tied to the scandals or
excesses provoked by the so called
investigating journalism, that aims explicitly
at the privacy of high political figures. This
distancing is also associated with some
sort of embarrassment or difficulty that
they might have when exposed to the
threat the media represents, for being
evaluated, misjudged and rejected by those
and by other actors of communication.
Finally, the rejection of the media could be
owed to its refusal to see the politics
reduced to the dimensions of a show
without any engagements, implications or
significance.

Media and the ew Political
Configuration
The estimation of the media influence
in political matters presupposes a new
approach, achieved first in Radio and TV
studios, and under an entirely new
perspective in which these instruments are
no longer reduced to simple communication
technologies, capable of affecting the
functioning of democracy and to transform
modalities of expression belonging to
public debates.
In Remy Rieffels opinion (2005),
there is a new configuration in which one
further step is made from a game reduced
to only two actors (political figures and
citizens) to a more complex one, with four
participants: political figures, polling
institutes, journalists and citizens.
Between the political stage protagonists
there is a fluctuating level of battle force
that incites to the precise noticing of the
actor that leads/dominates the game. This
game not only defines the fight or the
existent cooperation between various
interventionists acting on the political
arena, but also the one organized on a
symbolic level, starting with the current
representations on the recent electoral
stage.
This presents itself (in J. Gerstls
opinion) like a privileged sequence of the
political reality construction to which all
actors contribute, in proportion to their
resources and interests Political people
look to impose the domination of their
definition through a series of symbols, like
words, images, movies, stories and
arguments, speeches, phrases, pictures,
posters, video clips, books, professions of
faith, written materials, music, etc. The
other characters/protagonists journalists,
the people doing the polls or even simple
citizens issue judgments themselves or
suggest images, becoming at their turn,
vectors of a different or antagonistic
interpretation.
Following the same thought pattern,
the electoral communication at stake
would resume itself to a competition with
the purpose of controlling what the general
public perceives as events developing and
what they understand from the political

91
battles through the media or in a
confrontation of definitions, where every
single one of them intends imposing their
domination, for having more credibility in
the perception of the electoral campaign in
development.
In this context, we have to mention
that the mediated variable cannot be
presented on its own, but in a relational
logic, interpretable jointly with the other
actors of the political arena, exposed to the
same modifications or interferences,
specific to the current situation.
The enunciation of these introductory
elements brings in discussion the issue of
the role and real importance of the media
in todays political life. In this framework,
some possible questions arise: is the media
turning into a determining tool of the
democratic life of a country or in a
secondary variable definitely important
but not decisive, for the well functioning
of the public debate? Who would then
hold the supremacy of the communication-
politics binomial?
The debate is not final yet, because
clear cut, true/false issues are a rarity in
this field, with the exception of a single
element of diagnosis that reveals
unanimity: media exerts pressure and such
high fascination on the actors of power,
that, without any doubts, influences the
political discourse and behavior.

Media Influence on Political Practice
Two recent affirmations made in the
French specialty literature come to fully
confirm the issues discussed: The media
pressure on political people is very
powerful (Luc Ferry) and to be able to
govern well means over 50% to be able to
communicate well (Franois Baroin). In
this context, it is mentioned that the
growing potential of television during the
1995 electoral elections in France,
determined all candidates to utilize mass
media technique of communication for
better organize their interventions, making
use of media logic. In the same time, the
growing professionalism of the political
profession is mentioned, conjugated with
the accelerated protrusion of the media and
the intensification of the convention
between the elected ones and journalists,
transforms the perfecting of political life,
as well as the media strategies in force.

Personalization, dramatization, esthetics
As per Remy Rieffel, the accent
placed on the psychological characteristics
of candidates shifted the borderlines
between public and private, contributed to
the appreciation of certain character traits
(like open, easygoing, energetic, warm,
etc) and underlined the intimacy of the
political figure/character ( photographs and
videos with family members: spouse,
children, etc). Such a strategy forces the
politicians to build themselves a character,
legitimizes their decasualization and
neglects the political stakes, which are
taken out of context, reducing the electoral
campaigns to simple fight between
personalities.
Raising the awareness of the general
public on less known politicians life
events, even character traits and preferences,
passions and hobbies, without any
particular importance themselves, brings
them closer to the electors, making them
more human, creating the illusion that they
are closer to the people. Encouraged by
communication specialists (consultants,
image advisors, experts in political
communication), which beside necessary
advising organize media training sessions,
devise electoral posters and interpret polls,
politicians find themselves in the situation
of being forced to adopt new political
conducts, if they really want to convince
electors.
Clin Sinescu


92
Making a referral to the progressive
transformation of political shows during
the 80s, Erik Neveu (1995) underlined the
posture changes recorded during that
period of time for French political leaders
of the era, highlighting the fact that the
television started occupying a center stage
in their strategies.
Some shows stood out in this context,
taking advantage of the principle of
interviewing the guest in scenery imitating
agora and the interaction with the viewers
through instant polls; they intruded in the
intimacy of highly placed politicians, by
presenting them during their private
everyday life, contributing this way to the
psychology of politics; it was favored a
certain diluted climate of politics, in which
the actors of power are incited to talk
generally about that particular weeks
political events, sometimes without having
all the data concerning the latest
developments, etc.
This valorization of the political
personalities benevolence and the revealing
of their personal intimacy werent it
seems so sufficient for giving a plus
of intelligibility to the political issues of
the day. Television constraints politicians to
continuously adapt to the media
patterns, exerting a real constraint on
their communication practices. In this
context, one could say slightly
exaggerating that if the media doesnt
have any influential power on viewers,
definitely has it, without question, on
politicians.
Dramatization of political life means
to assimilate the politics of a show. This
way, it is mentioned that the scope of the
political show became so big that started
producing confusion among citizens
perceptions, made to perceive more and
more of the candidates competencies, in
proportion with their performance in front
of the camera.
Fragmentation of political messages
becomes a natural consequence of it. It is a
presentation of facts and stakes under the
shape of an information-capsule; in the
capacity of fragmenting the problems in
adopting the clip type effect, meaning to
react instantaneously to certain questions
asked by journalists; to accept the
reduction of the speech time even to a
couple of phrases or small formulae, and
to be capable of producing speeches that
summarize thoughts in 30 seconds or 2
minutes, as per the pattern imposed by the
moderator.
This way, we can say that the rhetoric
of politics became the art of small
sentences, of the capitation and seduction
of the viewer through an associative
rationale and not with a hypothetical-
deductive one. This policy encourages a
speech that addresses everybody in the
same time and that is not meant to
displease anyone. Christian Le Bart (1998)
brings up a hypothesis that states that the
audio-visual media accelerated the
homogeneity of political discourse.
Given todays contexts, the political
discourse acquires more and more a drama
dimension, because the social actor the
political figure must build itself as per
Erving Goffman (1959) a self image, a
faade, often in conformity with its
publics expectance. Considering all this,
would be wrong to believe in the complete
newness of this political communication or
in the perfect unity of the seduction and
persuasion techniques utilized by the
contemporary political leaders, under the
media effect. In this case, specialists say
that it is a matter of originality rather than
intensity, in the context in which some
practices must be evoked, especially the
personality and theatrical effect existed
always.


93
Personalization of Politics
One interpretation somewhat similar
to the problematic approached, but with
local pertinent nuances - makes Maria
Luisa Pasella (2004). In connection with
the given issues, the author underlines the
following important aspects:
- In latest years, the television became the
principal tool of political communication,
essentially contributing to the re-
dimensioning of the local electoral
debate factor and to the advancing into
the spotlight of the political candidate,
whose personal qualities become the
essential content of the political proposal
and therefore the central/core element of
the electoral communication.
- Television is considered responsible for
the process of leadership personalization
that favors the diffusion of individual
symbols of power and the transformation
of personalities involved in subjects of
the political power; this personalization
created a situation of complex governing,
in which only certain individuals are in
the position and condition of operating
selections in the name of a collectivity,
tied to the institutions through a strong
bond of trust.
- Charismatic leaders of the current
political arena are presently considered
to be figures that can generate consensus,
due to a wise image construction, gained
through a political marketing strategy at
the basis of which is the important
conviction of the importance of the
spectacular and of the necessary
personification of it, as a specific internal
component of the political game.
- This personification of the electoral
political communication constitutes a
phenomenon that marks and will
continue marking the Italian political
process, on the background of a more
accentuated emerging of the leader.
Referring to the influence that this
kind of policy-show exerts on the TV
spectator- citizen, we can say that the
scarcity of the investigations concerning
the reception of such transmissions
impedes the formulation of precise
conclusions in this respect. At the same
time, it is to mention that there isnt an
unanimity of views in this sense.
Consequently, Eric Neveu (1995) asserts
that the mediated form becomes a
guarantor of the civic fond and encourages
a depoliticizing of the public, because of
its tendency to excessively vulgarize the
political activity. Other more optimistic
authors as Kees Brants (2003) declare that
these transmissions contribute directly to
the enrichment of the political competence
of the citizens. His thesis has the merit to
be based on an European comparative
study, without being reduced to a strictly
national vision. At his turn, Jay G. Blumler
(1995), unlike some of his colleagues, that
signal out a crisis of the popular
communication, under the influence of the
commercial television, considers that the
penetration force of the infotainment is
relative and much more ambiguous than
we can believe, suggesting that this
mixture of dtente and serious discussion
which can be found in the talk-shows
could reconcile both popular and political
element.

From the party campaign to the
candidates campaign
The disappearance or the decline of
the impersonal character of the party
image brought to forefront the leader
figure and to his progressive superposition
with the party image. This process is a
result of an ascending mediation, that led
to an erosion of the party fidelity, to a
privilege of image personalization and
finally the attraction of spectator interest.
Clin Sinescu


94
In Italy, the first sign of this mutation
of a linguistic order appeared on the
occasion of 2001 elections, when a series
of electoral lists were countersigned with a
proper name: Italia dei Valori Di Pietro,
Democrazia Europea DAntoni etc. In
this case, the proper name tends to
substitute to the abstract one, indicates, in
fact an idea of membership, representing
an indicator of link between the leader and
his sustainers.
Another proof of this link of fidelity
which is created by the intermediary of
language is the transformation of the
proper name in epithet.
Words like berlusconiano, bosiano,
prodiano make in fact reference to the
potential destiny of the political leader
produced by media.
All these changes could be interpreted
as an adaptation of the Italian policy to the
existing style, according to which elections
are rather a challenge between two persons
than an ideas debate. This passage from we
to I represents a change in the political
structure, because it implies a re dimension
of the party roles and of their decision
organs in the favor of the individual
responsibility of the leader, as well as in
the communication field. The passage
from the competition of programs to that
of persons, implies a series of consequences
on the political communication, on the
way the candidates present themselves in
front of the electorate, gain its confidence
and succeed to convince it. Consequently,
the role of the political communication in a
personalized situation is to act in order to
create that confidence.
The personalization of the political
communication requires the necessity to
demonstrate that policy is the only way to
achieve ones personality and consequently
to conquer his right to govern by his own
actions.
One of the main missions belonging to
the political communication in this context
is its capacity to build up the candidates
,,story and to reproduce it coherently by
the communicated content. In a
competition for obtaining the largest
electoral consensus, the opposition among
candidates simplifies a dispute that
sometimes could be interpreted as difficult.
This candidates role is obviously pointed
out during a campaign aiming to obtain a
personal power position, without a direct
reference to the party, which remains
somewhere on a second plan.
In the campaigns centered on the
candidate the relevance report between the
candidate and the party is inverted and it
could happen to have a candidate imposed
by himself, without a party or to have the
party as a candidate. Consequently, the
personalization appears as the most
characteristic result of the new epoch and
the relation with the electorate isnt more
mediated by the society, but directed to
and consumed by the intermediary of
media, which warrants it by a system of
concepts accessible to the large public. In
consequence, the author considers that
these modern electoral campaigns can be
faced and could lead sometimes to the
victory, counting on the opportunities
offered by media systems, which benefit
of all these useful elements for positioning
the candidate on the electorate market. In
this context, the party, situated somewhere
behind the scene, could even not exist:
what is fundamental is the existence of
media and especially of television.

Bibliography :
Balle, Francis (1992), Mdias et socit.
Presse, audio-visuel, tlvision, Paris,
Montchrestien.
Blumler, Jay G., Michael Gurevitch, The
crisis of public communication, London,
Routledge.

95
Brants, Kees & Els Debens (2000), ,,The
status of TV Broadcasting in Europe, in:
J.Wieten , G. Murdock & P. Dahlgren
(eds), Television across Europe: a
comparative introduction, London, Sage,
pp.7-23.
Brants, Kees (1998), ,,Whos afraid of
infotainment, European Journal of
communication, 3(3), 315-335.
Gerstl, J. (2004), La communication
politique, Paris, Dalozz.
Goffman, Erving (1959) The presentation
of self in every day life, London, Random
House, Inc.
Lamizet, Bernard (2003), La
communication politique, Lyon, Institut
dEtudes de Lyon.

Le Bart, Christian (1998), Le discours
politique, Paris, P.U.F
Neveu, Erik (1995), ,,Les missions
politiques la tlvision: les annes
quatre-vingt ou les impasses du spectacle
politique, in Hermes, Nos. 17-18, pp.
145-162
Pasella, Maria Luisa (2004), La
communicazzione politica in Italia. I
messagi autogestiti nelle elezione politiche
2001. Due strategie a confronto, 2004,
www.baskerville.it
Rieffel, Remy (2005), Que sont les
mdias, Paris, Gallimard.
G. Wolton, D. (1997), Penser la
communication, Paris, Flamarion.



96

Statistical Evaluation of Events in the
Mixing Models

A. IOESCU, M.R. COSTESCU

Rsum: Cet article continue ltude dans le domaine du mixage turbulent
et il est fond sur une technologie vortex, ralise par des recherches
interdisciplinaires concernant larodynamique et la biologie vgtale.
Linstallation consiste dun tube vortex qui est une version modifie, basse
pression (environ 0,1 bar), dun tube Ranque-Hilsch. A lextrmit close on
realize une structure vortique annulaire o la priode de rotation (vlocit
tangentielle/vlocit axiale) atteind son maximum. La modlation
mathmatique dun flux complexe (non priodique) plusieurs phases cre
dans linstallation implique une valuation de lintensit du mixage turbulent
qui est fonde sur quelques relations mathmatiques de leffort dformation
kinmatique de lenvironement dterministe. Le calcul numrique a montr
que lefficience du mixage en longueur et dformation hausse avec le temps
dans les premiers moments du mixage, fait confirm par les experiments. On
a tudi trs peu de cas statistiques pour le cas non priodique (environ 60).
On a ralis une comparaison avec les cas priodiques. Les conclusions
fournissent des informations utiles concernant la frquence des vnements
rares, dans les cas priodiques aussi bien que dans ceux non-priodiques.
Keywords : Vortex Phenomena, Turbulent Mixing, Stretching, Folding, Rare Event.

1. Introduction

he turbulence term can be defined as
"chaotic behavior of far from
equilibrium systems, with very few
freedom degrees". In this area there are
two important theories:
a) The transition theory from smooth
laminar flows to chaotic flows,
characteristic to turbulence.
b) Statistic studies of the complete
turbulent systems.
The statistical idea of flow is
represented by the map:
(1) ( ) ( ) X X X x
t t 0
,
=
= =
In the continuum mechanics the
relation (1) is named flow, and it must be a
diffeomorphism of class C
k
.
Moreover, (1) must satisfy the relation:
(2)
|
|
\
|
=
j
i
X
x
J J
det , 0
where D denotes the derivation with
respect to the reference configuration, in
this case X. The relation (2) implies two
particles, X
1
and X
2
, which occupy the
same position x at a moment. Non-
topological behavior (like break up, for
T
Statistical Evaluation of Events in the Mixing Models

97
example) is not allowed.
The basic measure for the deformation
with respect to X is the deformation
gradient, F:
(3) ( ) ( )
|
|
\
|
= =
j
i
ij
T
t X
X
x
F , X F
where
X
denotes differentiation with
respect to X. According to (2), F is non
singular. The basic measure for the
deformation with respect to x is the
velocity gradient.
The above relations allow the definition
of the basic deformation for a material
filament and for the area of an infinitesimal
material surface [1].
Let us define the basic deformation
measures: the length deformation and
surface deformation , with the relations [1]:
(4)
A
a
X
x
d
d
d
d
dA dX 0 0
lim , lim

= =
which are obtained from
(5) ( ) ( ) ( )
2 / 1
1 2 / 1
: det , : C MM C

= = F
with C (=F
T
F) the Cauchy-Green deformation
tensor, and the length and surface vectors
M, defined by
(6)
A
A
X
X
M
d
d
d
d
= = ,
The relation (5) has the scalar form:

(7) ( )
j i ij j i ij
M C F M C = =
1 2 2
det ,
with M
i
2
=1,
j
2
=1, the condition for
the versors.
In this framework the mixing concept
implies the stretching and folding of the
material elements. If in an initial location P
there is a material filament dX and an area
element dA, the specific length and surface
deformations are given by the relations:
(8)
( ) ( )
nn D v mm D :
ln
, :
ln
= =
Dt
D
Dt
D

where D is the deformation tensor, obtained
by decomposing the velocity gradient in its
symmetric and non-symmetric part.
We say that the flow x=
t
(X) has a
good mixing if the mean values D(ln)/Dt
and D(ln)/Dt are not decreasing to zero,
for any initial position P and any initial
orientations M and .
As the above two quantities are
bounded, the deformation efficiency can
be naturally quantified. Thus, there is
defined [1] the deformation efficiency in
length, e
= e
(X,M,t) of the material

element dX, as:
(9)
( )
( )
1
:
/ ln
2 / 1
=
D D
Dt D
e

and similarly, the deformation efficiency in
surface, , e
= e
(X,,t) of the area element

dA: in the case of an isochoric flow (the
jacobian equal 1), we have:
(10)
( )
( )
1
:
/ ln
2 / 1
=
D D
Dt D
e

2. Experimental modeling
The modeling is based on a
technology, which concerns the investigation
of turbulent mixing in a Tornado vortex
installation, and is able to process the
polluted fluids and to provide new useful
materials. The installation consists of a
vortex tube which is a modified version, at
a low pressure (approx. 0.1 bar) of a
Ranque-Hilsch tube. The application area
is very large, including collecting, separation
and aggregation of the particles [2, 3].
The spatial and temporal scales proved
that the domains can vary, from the
laboratory domains to dissipative ones
(corresponding to fine structures).
Three specific applications were
performed as fluid waste management:
- the agglomeration of short fibers
(aerodynamic spinning);
- the retention of particles under 5m
without any material filter;
- the breakout of cell membranes of the
A. Ionescu, M.R. Costescu


98
phytoplankton from polluted waters
and the providing of a cell content
solution with important bio-stimulating
features.
One end of the tube is completely closed
and the air is tangentially introduced by the
aspiration operating at the other end of the
tube. The air enters the installation through
the tangential entries and leaves it by the
exit to the aspiration source. It is worth noting
the air enters the tube as a swirling flow.
Near the closed end an annular vortex
structure generates, where the swirling
ratio number (tangential velocity /axial
velocity) attains its maximum. We have to
mention this particular swirling flow control
by comparison to the cyclones, centrifuges
or other generators of swirling flow.
Special results were obtained by
processing the biological fluids, namely
using a aquatic algae Spirulina Platensis.
The basic effect of the vortexation refers to
the fragmentation, at very small spatial
scales, of the biological material. The
gradual fragmentation was performed in
the vortex tube ad an appropriate
parameter [3, 4] allows the representation
of the degree of fragmentation depending
on the non-dimensional parameter, for
various experimental results.
Going further with the vortexation
time, the cell membrane was broken out
and a homogeneous solution of cell
contents was obtained. Thats what we
named rare event. It is worth noting that,
in addition to the cell wall breaking, this
type of vortexation is able to mix the
processed liquid and to provide a
homogeneous solution.
The mathematical modeling has confirmed
the experiments [4]. The mathematical
model associated to the vortex phenomena
is the 3D version of the widespread
isochoric two-dimensional flow [1]
(11) 1 1 ,
* *
*
1
2
2
1

=
=
K
x G K
dt
dx
x G
dt
dx

with the velocity axis (the z-axis) constant.
The calculus was quite complex, involving
large expressions for the length and surface
deformations. There were studied very few
statistical cases (about 60) for the non
periodic case [4]. Calculating the efficiency
of mixing provided few rare events, since
the interruption of the simulation program
matched the event of break up of the
material filaments. A very important fact is
that the mixing, and especially the
turbulent mixing, occurs at irrational values
5 , 3 , 2 of the parameters and versors. This
is not surprising, since 5 , 3 , 2 etc can
be considered themselves as random values.
Therefore, the approaching of random
distributed events is favorable for the vortex
phenomena and the turbulent mixing.

3. Results
In order to study the qualitative
features of the turbulent mixing, a recent
target is to compare the behavior of non
periodic and periodic flows, namely the
issue of rare events for 3D and 2D flows.
Two-dimensional flows increase their
length by forming two basic kinds of
structures: tendrils and whorls and their
combinations. In complex two-dimensional
fluid flows we can encounter tendrils
within tendrils, whorls within whorls, and
all other possible combinations. A
widespread periodic flow is the tendril-
whorl flow (TW). Introduced by Khakhar,
Rising and Ottino (1987), it is a
discontinuous succession of extensional
flows and twist maps. In the simplest case
all the flows are identical and the period of
alternation extensional/ rotational is also
constant. The physical motivation for this
Statistical Evaluation of Events in the Mixing Models

99
flow is that locally, a velocity field can be
decomposed into extension and rotation. [1].
In the simplest form of the TW model,
the velocity field over a single period is
given by its extensional part:
(12)
ext
y
x
T t
y v
x v

=
=
0 ,

and its rotational part:
(13)
( )
rot ext ext
r
T T t T
r v
v
+
=
=
,
0

where T
ext
denotes the duration of the
extensional component and T
rot
the duration
of rotational component. The model consists
of vortices producing whorls which are
periodically squeezed by the hyperbolic
flow leading to the formation of tendrils,
and the process repeats. The function (r)
is positive and specifies the rate of rotation.
For the beginning it was studied the
extensional part of the TW model. The
associated Cauchy problem:
(14)
( ) ( ) Y y X x
T t
y v
x v
ext
y
x
= =

=
=
0 , 0
, 0 ,

has the solution:
(15)
( )
( )
=
=
ext
ext
T Y y
T X x

exp
exp
,
which is much more easier to approach
than the solution of the 3D model. Following
this solution, the basic deformation tensors
F, C and C
-1
have been calculated [5]. As
their expressions are quite simple, the
deformations in length and surface follow
immediately. It was found [5], that the
deformations in length and surface are less
complex than for three-dimensional (non
periodic) flow. Moreover, the expressions
in length and surface are quite similar. But
the likeness does not maintain for the
deformation efficiencies. The expressions
(9) and (10) are in this case:
( )
( ) ( )
|
|
\
|
+

=
2
2
2
1
2
1
2 exp 2 exp
2 exp 2
1 2 ) 16 (
M T M T
M T
e
ext ext
ext

( )
( ) ( )
|
|
\
|
+

=
2
1
2
2
2
2
2 exp 2 exp
2 exp 2
1 2 ) 17 (
T T
T
e
ext ext
ext

with the versor conditions:

1 , 1
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
1
= + = + M M .
The above differential equations were
analyzed from a qualitative standpoint. There
were considered few sets of equal irrational
values for the length and surface versors:
a) ( ) ( )
|
|
\
|
= =
2
1
,
2
1
, ,
2 1 2 1
M M ;
b) ( ) ( )
|
|
\
|
= =
3
2
,
3
1
, ,
2 1 2 1
M M ;
c) ( ) ( )
|
|
\
|
= =
5
2
,
5
1
, ,
2 1 2 1
M M ;
d) ( ) ( ) = =
2 1 2 1
, , M M
|
|
\
|
7
6
,
7
1
.
Furthermore, the parameter 1 0
was taken as 05 . 0 = for the moment and
the discrete time behavior of

e e , was
analyzed.
For each of the above eight cases the
Maple numeric procedure Dsolve was applied.
The discrete values of T
ext
(the duration of
the extensional component) are not very
few (about 20), but sufficiently for outlining
the linearity/ nonlinearity of the case.
Although the statistical cases are
much fewer than in the 3D (non periodic)
case, the distribution of the events is the
same as in the vortex phenomena: a half of
the situations are nonlinear. Moreover, it
can be realized, like for the 3D flow, the
following classification of the flows:
i) positive linear flow;
ii) negative linear flow;
iii) mixing phenomena;
iv) rare events.
The following table synthesizes the
comparison between a periodic and a non-
periodic flow, from the turbulent mixing
standpoint:

A. Ionescu, M.R. Costescu


100
Table 1
Periodic flow on-periodic
flow
Versor
Value
Legth
Deff.
e
Surface
Deff.
e
Legth
Deff.
e
Surface
Deff.
e
|
|
\
|
2
1
,
2
1

Non-linear Non-linear Linear Rare
event
|
|
\
|
3
2
,
3
1 Positive
Non-
linear
Neg.
Non-
linear
Neg.
Non-
linear
Linear
|
|
\
|
5
2
,
5
1 Linear Neg.
Non-
linear
Linear Positive
Non-
linear
|
|
\
|
7
6
,
7
1 Linear Posit.
Non-
linear
Linear Rare
event
( ) 0 , 1
Linear Linear Non-linear Non-
linear

4. Discussions
Analyzing the statistical situations for
the periodic and non periodic flow behavior,
a basic conclusion imposes: although the
calculus is easier, the periodic TW flow
exhibits also a far from equilibrium
behavior, giving rise to rare events. Some
remarks are important to outline:
1. Both the periodic and non periodic
flow behavior become nonlinear at random
values of the versors, as it can be seen
from the Table 1. In these situations the
turbulent mixing appears and the
probability of rare events is high.
2. The turbulence appears at small values
of time units (in the model), and also at the
beginning of the experiments. So, one more
time, the modeling matches the experiment.
3. The above cases are not representing
all the situations possible. Going further
with the test cases, it has been found a
statistical growth of rare event cases,
which confirms the modeling quality.
4. More accurate properties will be
established for

e e , , when taking into
account more irrational versor values, and
also more values for . Also, the function
(r) of the rotational component will be
introduced in the analysis, for searching
new qualitative features of the model.
5. It must be noted that

e e , can be
approached both as differential equations and
as functions of time and some parameters.
This fact provides new fields of research
both of analytic and experimental standpoint.

References
[1] J.M. Ottino, The kinematics of mixing:
stretching, chaos and transport, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge (1989)
[2] St.N. Savulescu, A special vortex tube for
particle processing flows, Rev. Roum. Sci. Techn.-
Mec. Appl., Tome 43, no 5, p. 611-615 (1998)
[3] St. S. Savulescu, Applications of
multiphase flows in a vortex tube closed at one
end, Internal Reports, CCTE, IEA, Bucarest
(1996-1998)
[4] A. Ionescu, The structural stability of
Biological Oscillators. Analytical Contributions,
Ph.D. thesis, Bucarest (2002).
[5] A. Ionescu, Some qualitative features of
turbulent mixing for far from equilibrium
phenomena, Acta Universitatis Apulensis
(Mathematics-Informatics), no 11, p. 19-29
(2006)

101

The Impact of the Financial Politics on the
Electorates Behaviour

Daniel TOB, Laureniu DRAGOMIR

Rsum: La politique financire est le rsultat de la conception doctrinaire
de la force politique dominante un certain moment. Aprs avoir appliqu
les mesures concrtes du telle ou telle politique, il est essential dvaluer leur
impact pour savoir comment conserver ou, au contraire, rviser les
programmes politiques en vue des elections venir.
Keywords: Economical System, Political System, Ideology, Electors.

very party, movement or formation
with a political character elaborates
its own programme that establishes
the directing lines of its activity with the
purpose of arriving to power or of keeping
and consolidating it. The political programme
defines the objectives followed by the
respective party, the means and the
methods, which it intends using for their
accomplishment, the social categories
(groups) to which it addresses and their
interests that it defends: the position
towards the internal and international main
problems of the moment.
The programme of a party, elaborated
in view of the elections, outlines the
alternative offered by it to the electorate,
for the solving of the problems with which
the country fights at the respective
moment. The programme of the party that
wins the elections (or the parties that form
the governmental coalition) becomes the
government party and that is why it must
be submitted to the Parliament debate.
The programme accepted by the
legislative forum establishes the economical,
social and of other nature objectives, which
are to be realized by the governmental
team during the period for which it was
invested, the necessary means for their
realization, as well as the measures to be
taken for this purpose. In other words, the
governmental programme defines the state
politics, both on the internal and the
external level.
As part of the internal politics, a
special place occupies the economic and
social objectives:
the rhythm of the economical growth
in the immediate and further perspective;
the proportions and the direction of
the raw capital investments;
the consumption dimension in the
reference period;
the relations between the public and
the private sector;
the unemployment curve;
the index of prices and costs;
E
Daniel Tob, Laureniu Dragomir


102
the evolution of salaries, pensions and
other population fixed incomes;
the foreseen actions to be realized in
education and instruction, medical
defence and social protection, etc.
At these are added the objectives and
the actions linked to the national defence,
the growth of the efficiency of the activity
carried on by the discipline organs, civil
security and administration.
On the external level, there are defined
the political, economical, technico-
scientifical, cultural, military and of other
nature relations with the neighbouring states,
with the other states from the continent and
other regions on the globe; the intentions of
collaboration and co-operation, the attitude
to the economical unions, military alliances
and other international organisms; the adopted
position in the problems regarding the
peace maintaining, the diminishing of the
tension in the hot areas of the globe, the
under-development abolishment, the environment
protection on the planetary scale, the fight
against terrorism and drug traffic, etc.
The accomplishment of the foreseen
objectives supposes, beside the insurance
of the necessary public financial resources,
the state intervention in economy with the
help of the economical levers and of the
instruments, institutions, financial organs
and regulations. The concrete methods and
means concerning the obtaining and the
directing of the financial resources, as of
for influencing the economical processes
the instruments, institutions, financial
organs and regulations used by the state
and social relations, in a determined stage,
forms the components of its financial politics.
The study of the governments
performances, of the public options
politics and of the multiple aspects, which
are supposed by the process of adopting
decisions, has always been a main
objective of the fight for power. Political
power favoured the appearance, the
development and the decline of economical
systems, the promotion of democracy or,
on the contrary, the protection of dictatorship,
the instauration of the competitive spirit or
its miming, the taking place of more or
less free elections. Political relations take
place, every time, in a system of political
institutions and organizations, on the basis
of a political consciousness and behaviour,
through the entire mechanism of direct and
mediate relations between leaders and
subjects, on the basis of political decisions
and juridical rules.
Studying the interdependences between
the political and the economical domains,
it appeared the question if the economical
decisions are determined by the political
influences, and the political decisions
depend on the economical factors. Thus, in
the specialty literature, it was built a model
of politico-economical interdependence, in
which the economy state influences the
electors decision to vote, as it may be
observed from the following scheme:

The Impact of the Financial Politics on the Electorates Behaviour

103
In this way, two American specialists
(A. Down and, afterwards D. Black)
develop a theory of the political voting
process. Although we have an important
realization of these specialists, the model
in itself doesnt have a complex character,
because it simplifies the analysis of the
political phenomenon, limiting its economical
way; the two Americans opinion is in
accord with the earlier statement of the
French economist Lic Philip
1
according
to which, from a historical point of view,
the fight for financial power confounds
with the fight for political power.
We consider that this conceptual
superposition is right from a certain point
of view when, before the elections, the
political forces are conscious that, once
they are arrived at government, they will
also manage the state finances. So, they
will automatically get, beside the political
power, also the financial power. That is why
we think that financial power is conditioned
by the obtaining of the political power,
even if, in the electoral campaign, it is
necessary, beside a remarkable political
force, a particular financial force, to cover
the inherent expenses.
In this way, in the elections process,
not everybody wins, the stake is extremely
high, because, in case of victory, the
political formation will obtain complete
power, both political and financial (fiscal,
budgetary and control over public finances).
If we take into consideration the rule
of the vote of a majority, the minority of
electors is forced to accept actions that
cannot prevent and for which it cannot
even pretend compensations, in the
eventuality of damages registration. That is
why, it can be stated that the political
process resembles with the economical
one, in which the competition facilitates
the success of the most skilful
businessman, realizing a selection of the
economical agents, a real social Darwinism.
Thus, the votes get an economical
dimension. The economical value of
votes is confirmed by the selling and
buying of the individuals activity, in cases
of corruption, but the models founded on
this kind of immoral behaviour werent
considered useful in the analysis of the
political behaviour.
2
In other words, we appreciate that the
study of the economical side of votes
doesnt necessarily have to have a negative
basis, generated by a climate of
misunderstanding and dishonesty.
The individuals votes have an economical
value, because they are materialized in
collective decisions, which have effects on
the populations incomes and wealth, over
the time, which makes that the political
interest to be connected to the economical
one and the other way around.
In the big political entities, the institutional
manifestation of active promotion of economical
interest consists in the pressure group.
Even the reason of the existence of
these groups lies in their capacity to
promote and advance, through the political
option processes, the represented private
functional interests. Although its presence
compromises the public interest or the
general wealth, the importance of the
pressure group has greatly raised in the last
half a century. This has on its basis a
certain decline of the public moral,
determined by the anticipated gains in
the political process by the functional groups.
Other groups of interests, observing
the success of the firsts, will gain the
courage to make known their points of
view, their complaints, ending by investing
significant resources in the political
organization of society.
The pressure groups influence more
and more the process of taking decisions,
inclusively in the financial sphere.
The importance of the groups interest
in the economical politics and, implicitly


104
the financial one has also increased
because of the devaluation of some concepts,
as social wealth, common well-being,
public interest. The bankruptcy of socialist
societies in the Central and Eastern
European countries demonstrated that the
postulates of the complete equality of
chances, of the co-proprietor of the big and
unique state propriety are just simple
ideals, impossible to touch.
Although social wealth or public
interest exist as something particular and
independent of the special groups
interests, it cannot be ignored J. Buchanan
statement, according to which the groups
interest is what the individuals say it is.
Though the function of social wealth
puts, on the hierarchical system, in a
conceptual way, all the possible states of
the society and takes into consideration the
best alternative, it can be realized only
respecting the following:
to be ignored the extreme opinions in
a group;
there are the best only those
modifications that are noticed to be
approved unanimously by all the
group members;
any change that obtains the
unanimously support is, clearly,
desirable and we can say that it is
for the public interest;
for any change for the public interest it
can be obtained unanimous support; in
other words, all persons can improve
their living standard, through any
modification that generates sufficient
improvements to facilitate the
reciprocal advantage;
the public interest has sense only
from the perspective of the decisions
taking rules functioning; or, the
decisions are adopted on the basis of
some option rules characterized by the
lack of unanimity.
The satisfaction of the public
interest compromises the group interest:
Although less probably and without
considerable historical validity, we can
imagine a government that makes only
those activities that offer general earnings
for all individuals and all groups and that
are financed from general income taxes. In
these conditions, it would be a relatively
small stimulus for the private individual
groups, to be organized in associations
destined to obtain special advantages,
through governmental action.
3
The public-private conflict from the
economical sphere influences the way of
governing and, implicitly, the financial
politics.
The financial politics is the resultant
of the doctrinarian concept of the leading
political force in society at a certain
moment. After the application of the
financial politics measures, it is important
to be analysed their impact on the former
electors citizens, if their efficiency was
high or, on the contrary, if a failure was
registered.
According to the results, the politicians
are ready to adjust their politics, to revise
their government programmes, while
waiting for some favourable reactions
from their electors.
Four united institutions: the economy,
the electors, the government and the
bureaucracy form a closed circle of the
interaction between politics and economy.
The electors evaluate the economy
performance and express their satisfaction
or insatisfaction towards the party that has
the power. On the other hand, the
government and the bureaucracy establish
the instruments of economical politics,
which affects the economy state and their
way of use.
4

The success or the failure of a
financial politics puts its mark on the re-
election. Generally, all politicians want to
The Impact of the Financial Politics on the Electorates Behaviour

105
be re-elected and thus they create a pre-
electoral economical boom, thinking that
this helps them to remain in their
functions.
The electorates vote has a fundamental
importance in the promotion and the
support of a certain financial politics. But,
it remains unpredictable, although the
entire population wants in fact, the
obtaining of a certain living standard.
Generally, the electors support those
political formations that have managed to
improve certain economical indicators at a
macro-economical level.
At the same time, the political parties
are different from the point of view of the
own economical politics desiderata; the
right-wing parties declare in favour of low
levels of fiscality and inflation, of modest
and levelled budgets; they oppose to the
equality of incomes and prefer to raise the
rate of unemployment, to keep the inflation
at a low level. The left-wing parties, in
contrast, favour the equality of incomes
and the reduction of unemployment, prefer
big budgets (although, implicitly, a high
volume of public expenses) and accept the
raise of the inflation rate to reduce the
unemployment.
In this context, it is considered that the
economical politics and, implicitly, the
financial one are influenced at a macro
level by the economy state, but also by the
ideology of the party that has the power.
The economical doctrine puts its mark
on the financial politics put into practice
by the formation that governs a country or
that intends to accede to this, no matter if
we have or not a state by right. To thus
insure the sovereignty and the legitimacy
of the public power, it is necessary that the
elections to take place freely.
The democracy in itself realizes through
elections, opposing, in this way, to the
Marxist economy, in which it has a minimum
role. To speak today about democracy means
to speak about a system of the political
competition or, in other words, the
competition result is the democracy,
because the power of decision between
competitors is in the electors hands.
Thus, any political party that has or
doesnt have the power, tries to convince
the electors that it deserves their trust.
According to the economical theory of the
democracy, every government that collects
the incomes and makes public expenses in
a manner in which it can maximize its
chances at the future elections.
Public expenses and incomes are the
main components of the financial politics
of governments and that is why they are
prepared to increase their efficiency. Thus,
the leading of a party begins from the
budget, and, in this context, there are
deduced three models of budgetary
behaviour of the government:
1. Governments tend to re-distribute the
incomes from rich to poor people.
This strategy has as purpose the votes
maximization hoping for a re-election,
the poor ones being numerous and so,
possibly to be won as allies. But the
government cannot be sure of the fact
that the proportion of the resources
re-distribution will make it more
popular towards the electorate.
2. Governments have the tendency to
favour the producers to the prejudice
of the consumers interests. If we
suppose that the respective economy
is a market one, based on the demand-
offer proportion, we dont have to lose
from our sight the fact that the
majority of the population has an only
source of income, and so, it must have
its interests protected.
3. The critic of the actual budget, starting
from the fact that the size of the
budget doesnt always correspond to
the real necessities of the economy.
As a rule, the notion of right budget


106
is used to put into inferiority the actual
budget. To catalogue a budget as
being too small or too big, its not
sufficient to analyse the way for the
resources distribution. But, the
electors are directly interested by this
thing because they want that the
money paid under the form of
incomes and taxes to be spend in the
best way by the winning party, and
even to obtain certain benefits from its
budgetary strategy.

otes
1
Philip, L., Finances publiques, Troisime
dition, (Public Finances, Third edition), Cujas,
Paris, 1989, p. 115.
2
Buchanan, J., Tullock, G., Calculul consensului.
Fundamente logice ale democraiei
constituionale, Editura Expert, Bucureti,
1995, p. 133.
3
Buchanan, J., Tullock, G., op. cit., pp. 299-300.
4
Lessman, S., Budgetary Politics and elections.
An investigation of public expediturea in West
Germany, European University Institute, 1987,
p. 55.


107

The Public Opinion and its Role in the
Electoral system

Clin SIESCU

Rsum : Le concept dopinion publique est li a une telle comprhension
scientifique de la socit, compte tenu pas surtout de la frquence de son
usage scientifique, mais plutt de sa connexion avec les sondages et avec le
systme lectoral. Cest pour cela que les spcialistes dans le domaine ont
largement prsent tout une srie dopinions pour ou contre lutilit des
sondages. Cette tude est structure en deux parties, lune concernant la
notion dopinion publique et lautre les consquences de lutilisation des
sondages dans la vie publique.
Keywords : Opinion, Public Opinion, Public Space, Polls.

Definitions and interpretation of the
public opinion

he concept of public opinion is
indissolubly linked to a certain
theoretical understanding of the
society which became obvious in various
moments of history. The studies initiated
in this field unanimously ascertain a
certain paradox that this term engenders,
due to the contrast between the frequency
of its scientific and political utilizations
and the difficulties provoked by its own
definition. It is very relevant, in this
respect, the registration in a manual from
the mid of 60s, entitled ,,Public Opinion
and belonging to Harwood Childs, of no
less than 50 definitions granted to the
respective term, from which some were
partially irreducible or confounded, as
plastically E. Noelle-Henmann said, barometer
with weather. Thus, the public opinion
consists of individuals reactions to assertions
or questions with pre-established form in
an interview circumstances, or in another
acceptance, the public opinion doesnt
represent the denomination of something,
but a classification of an entire series of
,,something, which shows from a
statistically point of view, and after
distributions of frequency, states or
quantitative proportions arousing attention
and interest. This difficulty of defining the
term is also mentioned in the International
Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences (1968),
in which the specialized editor W. Phillips
Davison shows that ,there isnt a definition
generally accepted of the public opinion,
although the term is increasingly used
since it entered in the popular speech,
during the French revolution, as well as in
the Encyclopaedia Universalis, where it is
specified that the opinion is part of the
social, apparently obvious, phenomena but
which eludes analysis when it aims the
scientific precision.
T
Clin Sinescu


108
Another relevant example that leads
this time to the beginning period of the
exact sciences is linked to a round table
organized in 1924 by ,,The American
Association of Political Sciences at the
end of which, after an agitated meeting,
given the absence of an agreement
concerning the definition of the public
opinion and especially of an instrument
that could measure it correctly, the
participants decided to avoid, as much as
possible, in the future the use of the
respective term.
Among the attempts to define and
measure the public opinion, Loc Blondiaux
(1997) mentions the existence of another
paradox that finds its origins in the
American politicians assertion Ph.
Converse (1987), according to which this
vulgar directing of the individual opinions
(denounced by the critics) routinely
carried out by the polls imposed itself by
consensus all over the world as a basic
definition of the public opinion. Arguing
that in the academic world there is no
consensus regarding this definition and
that the Gallups postulate according to
which public opinion is nothing else but
what the polls measure is purely a
challenge, Blondiaux declares firmly
against this interpretation. The paradox
invocated by the French author can be
found in his firm assertion according to
which the polls dont measure the public
opinion and their successful outcome is
due to the fact that the measurement
doesnt regard at all this opinion.
In his approach respecting the ,,critical
essence of the public opinion concept,
Blondiaux considers that its defining
elements, with regard to the polls could be
grouped together around four criteria:
- a criterion of rationalization, in which
the public opinion is (or should be) a
conscious and collective opinion;
- a criterion of publicity, according to
which the public opinion is (or should
be) a concerted opinion;
- a criterion of effectiveness , which
makes appeal to the organized character
of the public opinion;
- a criterion of authenticity, according to
which the public opinion is (or should
be) a spontaneous opinion;
The analysis of the arguments
accompanying all these criteria makes
obvious the existence of a critical essence
of the public opinion, that has nothing to
do with the public opinion measured by
the poll. A historical approach of the
concept of public opinion with the aim to
arbitrate or to cut the controversy
engendered by its definition and evolution
outlines a complex image of the respective
term. Patrick Champagne (2002) mentions
in this respect the three states of the public
opinion that are in closed relation with the
successive structuring of the political field
and define spaces of public debate more
and more extensive, the concept of public
opinion delimiting, in fact, the legitimate
participants to the political game. The first
state of the notion, that lasts, generally,
from the French revolution up to the
second half of the 19-th century sends to a
very restrictive sense linked to the logic of
the qualification vote, which dominated in
that time the political environment. The
term of political opinion which appeared
in the political life at the end of the 18-th
century, designated, in a way, the opinion
of social elites in the field of the open
political fight and of the electoral
competition for nominating the representatives
in the legislative meetings and aimed, in
fact, to legitimate the political presence of
a new social section, that of intellectual
bourgeoisie. Consequently, the public
opinion represented the opinion of those
chosen by the people and had two main
characteristics:
The Public Opinion and its Role in the Electoral System

109
- firstly, it was the political elites opinion,
that considered as legitimate only an
opinion sufficiently formed, without taking
into consideration the spontaneous,
unprocessed opinions which are related
to prejudices;
- such an opinion is not conceived as a
simple gathering of authorized individual
opinions; it results from the discussions
of those people whose opinions deserve
to be made public. Therefore, we assist
at a filtration and retranslation of the
people voice taken over, interpreted and
then assumed by elites in their own
interest and for the nation sake. During
the second half of the 19-th century such
a vision will be modified by the direct
implication of the people in the political
game, by its participation to the vote and
the development of some collective
forms of protest, as an expression of
popular will and of journalists, in
defining the public opinion. The power
of building up such an opinion is
strongly linked during the second ,,state
to the radio development, becoming thus
the product of a struggle developed
among three different actors: the
politicians, the journalists and the voters.
The third state comes after the years
50s, at the same time with the apparition
of the poll institutes and especially during
the presidential elections from France, in
1965, when these institutes will be known
by their operations of estimating the poll
results. They granted in fact a precise and
practical content to the notion of public
opinion, thanks to the technological progress
and the social sciences (the sample and the
questionnaire theories). The polls, whose
scientific content is very low are not
intended to answer a scientific question
and neither to realize a proper opinion
inventory but only to offer answers to
some questions linked to opinion.
In P. Champagnes vision, the answers
obtained in the opinion investigations have
not a peculiar scientific signification and
describe rather the unusual relationship
established by an investigation and
collaterally the political logics than what
the investigated individuals do really think.
In change, the polls have of their own the
entire force of the political, democratic
space and are legitimate because they are
presented as a form of direct democracy,
permitting, at the same time, a
rationalization of the strategies in the
social space.
Despite the criticism of scientific
order that could be addressed to the poll
policy, the public opinion would represent,
politically speaking, a positive fact, being
invoked in this respect the conception of
some analysts, concerning the role of the
public opinion in the regulation of the
political life.
A historical approach of the public
opinion notion needs, naturally, to signal
out some notable moments in the matter.
In this respect, it is to mention that in the
Anglo-Saxon literature from the end of the
19-th century up to the Second World War
a classic philosophy of the public opinion,
impregnated with an ideal of the public
space characteristic to the 18-th century,
makes its way in Europe and finds one of
his best correspondents in the person of
James Bryce (1888). According to this
interpretation, James T. Young (1923)
another American researcher noticed that
the public opinion is a social judgment
made by a community conscious of itself
on a question of general interest, after a
rational and public discussion.
An alternative model of public opinion,
inspired from The Crowd Psychology (Le
Bon and Tarde) is offered by the Walter
Lippmanns studies (1922, 1925). Referring
to these studies, (Blondiaux, 2003) asserts
that the image of the opinion as presented
Clin Sinescu


110
by this author is that of an isolated,
indifferent instable, incompetent, public
entirely submitted to the disposal of media,
which built up the world for him and to
whom he is blindly obedient. In the
American sociology, immediately after the
war, more attempts are signaled out, trying
to classify the respective concept, on the
basis of an opposition between societies of
publics and mass societies(Mills, 1981), or
between the notion of public and that of
mass (H.Blumer, 1948).
The term masse, is scientifically
used for the first time by Robert E. Park
(1904) , for designating a social state
characterized by heterogeneity, absence of
conducting rules and traditions, in which
the numerous and isolated individuals
dont interact and dont communicate
among them. In his opinion, the ,,mass
was passive and represented a force with
relevant characteristics, among which the
amplitude, the heterogeneity and the
anonymity. For Blumler, the term of
public should be used for designating a
group of people who is confronted with a
certain stake, who are divided on the
modalities to resolve it and are engaged in
a discussion over this stake.
At its turn, ,,the mass would be
composed by anonymous individuals, who
dont interact each other and who are
weakly organized.
In the G.Tardes opinion, the concept
of public could be defined as a desperate
crowd, in which the influence of some
spirits on the others became a distance
action and the opinion, as a resultant of all
these distance or contact actions has for
crowds or publics the same signification
as the thought for the body. (apud Petcu,
2001). In this situation, even if it is a
matter of individuals separated by
distance, they have in common the
consumption of the same type of messages
and some common views that facilitate the
conversation and implicitly the sharing of
the same opinions. Consequently, the
linear model proposed by G.Tarde for
illustrating the relationship communication
-society, in which the public becomes more
and more active, could be represented in
this way: Communication Conversation
Option Action.
J. Habermas (1989) analyzed, at the
beginning of the 18-th century, the
apparition of the ideal type of bourgeois
,,public sphere in Great Britain, France
and Germany and demonstrated the role of
the printed works in the transition to the
liberal-democrat regimes and in the
articulation of a critical public opinion ,
underlining that the modern society is
characterized by a new category of
influence named ,,mediating power. He
considers this ,,public sphere, structured
and dominated by mass-media, transformed
itself in a private arena of power, in the
framework of which there is a fight for
influence and for an efficient directing of
the communication flux. (apud Petcu,
2001). In Habermas vision, the modern
societies engender and develop two processes:
producing, from the communication point
of view, legitimate power and mono-
polizing the mass-media power in order to
create a mass loyalty to the political
existing system.
The analysis of the relationship
communication-society, realized by C.W.
Mills (1981) shows that the problem of the
so-called public is due in the western
society to the transformation of the
traditions and the conventional consensus
of the medieval society, reaching today its
culmination in the idea of the mass society.
In this respect, what in XVIII-XIX century
was called ,,publics is on the point to
become a ,,mass society. The author
realizes a fundamental distinction between
public and mass, but at the same time
considers that in a modern society ,,public

111
and ,,mass could be reversible, depending
on the concrete, specific conditions. The
notion of public, long time in use in the
literature of specialty, has its roots in the
XIV century and defined the state activities
and, respectively, those separated from the
public zone. Later, public meant open
or at the ,,public disposal.
Concerning the notion of ,,public
opinion, it was used for the first time in
1792, being initially identified as a reaction
to a problem. The term changes then its
meaning to ,,attitude, for signifying later
the behavior of a social group confronted
with a problem x or with a number of x
problems. At present, in one of its modern
interpretations, (M. Petcu, 2001), the
public opinion represents a common state
of consciousness in which the constant or
the continuity of the social attitude blends
with the momentary and discontinuous
reactions faced with phenomena and
socio- economic and political processes .
Regarding the theories that we tried to
present, it is difficult to find a specific
constant to the public opinion, given the
different conditions and moments that
generated these definitions. Consequently,
L. Blondiaux suggests us to find the truth
of this notion in ambivalence or
contradiction, underlining that this complexity
of the public opinion offers a large space
to approach some aspects concerning the
number of individuals involved in the
formation process of the public opinion,
their competence to entering the public
space, or aspects of autonomy or proceedings.
In consequence, the difficulty of
debating the notion of public opinion in
the light of the above theories results
especially from the necessity of using two
forms of discourse concerning the phenomena
specific to this notion: a type of discourse
that justify the intervention of the people
into the course of the public action and
another one that denounce it; one that
correspond to the affirmation of an ideal
and another one that answer an implicit or
explicit criticism of a perverted reality.
In this framework, a special analysis
of the public opinion concept, but not
taken out from the context, is offered by
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann (2001), with
her ,,spiral of silence.
On the basis of her theory, there
would be, in the authors vision, a
conception of the public opinion as form
of social control, whose activation is due
to people capacity to feel the dominant
opinions manifested around them at a
certain moment. These opinions influence
and model behaviors, in the sense of
homogenizing the personal opinion and
the personal behavior with that group of
dominant opinions. In her approach, the
author insists not only on the social notion
but also on the pressure the social
environment exerts on the individual,
which tries to project a favorable light on
the conformist, imitative behavior and the
tendency of ,,being in fashion or of
,,taking into consideration what will
people say. In Neumanns opinion, these
tendencies, even if they are despised or
considered with arrogance are appreciated
as essential for the surviving of the
community.
When she is referring to the public
opinion, the author takes into consideration
the ideas of ,,consensus, ,,average,
,,agreement: public opinion refers to
,,opinions and behaviors that you can
publicly have, without producing
isolation. When old traditions, morals and
norms of the society are at stake, public
opinion means those convictions and
behaviors which you must publicly express
or adopt, in order to avoid the risk of
isolation. In fact, the public opinion plays
the role of a real trial, of an ,,anonymous
instance, permanently open, which manifests
Clin Sinescu


112
too little consideration or affection for the
individual.
For a better understanding of the
German authors approach, we present a
,,minimum guide that she conceived for
testing the public opinion, which is known
under the name of the ,,spiral of silence.
According to this guide that indicates what
would be necessary to know for analyzing
the public opinion, it must be established:
how are distributed the populations
opinions, on a certain theme, by using the
means of an ordinary investigation;
- how is estimated the opinions climate, in
the sense of What the most of us are
thinking about this?, fact that can lead to
the apparition of an entirely new image
of the respective problem;
- how is considered the future evolution
into a certain controversy(e. g.): what
side will be the winner/ what side will be
in the decline?
At the same time:
- in certain public situations, it is necessary
to have a control on the expression
availability and to keep silence on the
respective matter; on the other hand, it
must be verified if the emotional charge
of the theme corresponds to the moment
or is associated with moral judgments,
because otherwise, without a valuable
charge, the necessary pressure specific
to the public opinion and consequently
to the spiral of silence wont be produced;
- it must be established what are the most
influent mass-media and which side is
supported by them, given the assistance
they could offer to other journalists or to
the supporters of a certain side and the
consequences of this action on the
public opinion process.

The polls and the public opinion
The analysis of this matter in such a
context could seem rather strange. On the
one hand, because sometimes the polls
represent, obviously, an efficient measure,
if not the most justified measure of the
public opinion. On the other hand,
because, if we proceed to an analysis of
the constitutive elements of the polls, well
find that no one corresponds to the senses
assigned to the public opinion, resulting
that the polls dont measure at all the
public opinion .
According to Loc Blondiaux (2003),
given the actual conditions, it is difficult to
sustain that the polls measure or reflect the
public opinion. In fact they only realized to
outline this opinion, making especially an
appeal to the primary sense of the term,
namely, presenting as a concrete reality
something that doesnt exist but in the
mental representation of the individual.
Underlining the low scientific interest
of the polls, Patrick Champagne (2002)
asserts that they represent rather a
political collecting than scientific of the
opinions and that they do not aim to
surprise the opinions of the investigated
individuals and to understand their
foundation but to produce from one day to
another political information, according to
the logic of the political game and destined
to come back again to the politics.
At their turn, the investigated people
arent asked about what do they think in
connection with a certain subject, but to
approve or disapprove a certain opinion,
already formulated which is proposed to
them, like to the elections. It is to mention
that the questions are put in such a way
that anybody could answer something,
resorting exclusively to the technique of
the closed questions, which strongly
restrict the participation of the investigated
person, reduced to a simple reaction of
approval or refuse, without knowing,
consequently, the concrete reference of
this reaction.
This interpretation makes reference to
the Pierre Bourdieus (1970) remarks, who

113
noted in this respect that the simple fact to
ask a closed question, reflecting the
opinion of a representative sample of
population implied the existence of three
postulates that couldnt be verified by facts:
- to ask everybody an opinion question it
is to suppose that everybody can have
personal opinions, that is to confound
the right of having an opinion with the
capacity to use this right;
- to ask an opinion question it is to
suppose that the investigated people are
asking themselves the same question and
are using the same terms in formulating
it. But the pure verbal understanding of a
question doesnt imply either its
practical understanding or that of the
practical meanings of the stakes;
- the gathering of the answers and their
presentation under the form of a
percentage means to estimate that all the
opinions have a social value; if we take
into consideration only the facts, we
must assert that the gathering of the
answers, without knowing the concrete
meaning of the question they make
reference to, and without noticing the
social and cultural characteristics of the
investigated people, means to suppose
that all the answers formally identical
are effectively identical. But it is to
mention that in this concrete situation
the facts contradict such a vision, the
opinion having a share that depends of
the social or the political importance of
the individuals.
In the framework of this complex
relation between the public opinion and
the polls they say that the polls have on
their side the proper force specific to the
democrat political field. They are
legitimate, because a form of direct
democracy, and they permit, at the same
time, a rationalization of the strategies in
the social space, based on the election
system with majority of votes. The direct
criticism of he polls, especially by the
political actors, could engender a series of
problems, inclusively the risk of criticizing
the democracy. Since the polls suppose
finally to vote, it seems that the political
people dont remain indifferent to the
results provided by these investigations,
which can offer a certain idea about the
electoral tendencies at the future elections.
This belief in the scientific character of the
polls explains in a way their ascension as
an instrument of political legitimacy,
because they permit, apparently, to know
the will of the people. In these
circumstances, the journalistic field became
the major strategic place where this symbolic
struggle, of a new type is carried out,
whose results are registered by the polls
and where ,,the public opinion is made.
In spite of the scientific criticism that
can be addressed to the poll practice, the
public opinion created by the poll
operators would remain, from a political
point of view, an useful thing, in
proportion as it would play a role of
regulation of the political life. In this
context, it is to mention that the poll
operators contributed to the creation of a
new space of game- the market of the
public opinions- that pushes the different
actors of the dominant political class to a
public debate, in order to convince the big
public, placed, generally in a position of
simple spectator. At present, the political
people cannot govern if they declare
against this opinion measured by the poll
operators. They must rend clear and
acceptable by the people their decisions,
because this political work leads in a
compulsory way to public debate, that is
bringing the major aspects of a matter in a
public space. The democrat formation of a
public opinion could be situated in the
center of the public space, where the
universal suffrage meant, practically, for a
long time, the only means of public
Clin Sinescu


114
measurement, and the elected assemblies
or the parties the representation of this
phenomenon. Causes or effects, the
massive practice of the polls and the role
of popular mass-media in the political
information accompanied the crisis of
representativity in the system.
The increasing of the social visibility
of the public opinion seems to attest an
enlargement of the public space, although
the legitimacy of the production and
diffusion forms of the public opinion
continues to remain a problem. In this case
could we say, for instance, that the democracy
is better defended if the decision factors try
to convince a majority of citizens, even by
the intermediary of a poll, and on its duration,
about the pertinence of their decisions?
Which would be then, in the created
framework, the best variant of analyzing or
interpreting the public opinion?
That offered by Pierre Bourdieu, according
to which the public opinion doesnt exist?
The D. Woltons conception, according
to which the public opinion represents the
relatively true reflection of the different
currents of opinion that are crossing the
contemporary society and the most
democratic means of regulating the choice
made by the citizen?
Or to share the P.Champagnes idea
according to which the public opinion is
the resultant of the opinions built up in
various social fields, by the reproduction
of their social function?
Whatever variant of approach or
interpretation of the public opinion, or of
the dichotomy public opinion-poll would
be in discussion, the multiple possibilities
offered by the social casuistry in an ever
larger and more complex public space
enrich permanently the debating framework
of the problem.

Bibliography

1. Blondiaux Loic (1997) Ce que les
sondages font lopinion publique
(1997), Politix no. 39, pp.117-136; see
also, La communication politique. tat
des savoirs, enjeux et perspectives (dir.
Gingras, Anne-Marie), Presses de
Qubec, 2003
2. Blumer, H. (1948, 1981) ,,Lopinion
publique dapres les enquetes par les
sondages, in J.G. Padioleau (dir.),
Lopinion publique: examen critique,
nouvelles directions, Paris, La Haye,
Mouton, p. 145-16.
3. Bourdieu, 1973, Lopinion publique
nexiste pas, in Les Temps Modernes,
no. 318, p. 1292-1309 cu (2004).
4. Bryce, James (1888), The American
Commonwealth, vol.2, New York,
Macmillann.
5. Champagne, P. (2002),Opinie public i
dezbatere public, in vol. Spaiul public
i comunicarea (dir. Isabelle Paillart),
Polirom, Bucureti, pp.137-158
6. Chelcea, S. (2002), Opinia public-
Gndesc masele despre ce i cum vor
elitele?, Editura Economic, Bucureti.
7. Childs H, Public opinion: Nature,
Formation and Role, Princeton,Van Nostrand.
8. Converse, Ph. (1987) ,,Changing
Conceptions of Public Opinion in the
Political Process, Public Political
quarterly, vol.51, no 4, p.12-14.
9. Drgan, I. (1996), Paradigme ale
comunicrii de mas, Bucureti, Ed. All.
10. Habermas, H (1989) ,,The The Public
Sphere: An Encyclopedia Article, in S.
E.Bronner and D.M.Kellner, Critical
Theory and Society: A Reader, New
York, p.136-142 Routledge .
11. Lippmann,W. (1922) Public Opinion,
New York, Macmillan.
12. Lippmann,W. (1925) Phantom Public,
New York, Macmillan.

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13. Marinescu, V. (2003), Introducere n
teoria comunicrii, principii, modele,
aplicaii, Tritonic, Bucureti.
14. Mills, C.W., (1981), Les publics et la
socit de masse, in J.G. Padioleau (dir.),
Lopinion publique: examen critique,
nouvelles directions, Paris, Mouton et et
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales, p. 164-177.
15. Noelle-Neumann, E. (2001), Spirala
tcerii. Opinia public nveliul nostru
social, comunicare.ro, Bucureti.

16. Park, E R. (1904,1972), The Crowd and
The public and Other Essays, Chicago,
The University of Chicago Press.
17. Petcu, M. (2001), Opinia i opinia public-
atestri romneti, Revista Psiho-
sociologia & Mass media nr.4/2001.
18. Tarde, G.(2001), lOpinion et la foule,
Alcan, Paris-Young T. James (1923)
The New American Government and its
Work, New York, Macmillan.
19. Wolton, D, (1997, 2005), Penser la
communication, Paris ,Flamarion.

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116

Public-Private Partnerships and the New Public
Procurement Directive

Ctlina Maria GEORGESCU

Rsum: Le Partnriat public-priv est un type darrangement contractuel
qui est apparu dans les relations entre les autorits publiques et les
oprateurs conomiques ds le dbut des annes 90. Les autorits publiques
tirent des bnfices de cette coopration car elle peuvent surpasser les
contraintes budgtaires qui empchent leurs activits et, en mme temps,
elles utilisent lexpertise du secteur priv. Les autorits publiques
reconnaissent que le PPP peut devenir un bon moyen pour amliorer la
comptitivit et la qualit des services dutilit publique, il va rduire les
couts gnraux des projets et, en mme temps, il va crer de revenus
additionnels pour les entits activant dans le secteur priv. Cet article
prsente la ncessit dun cadre juridique du PPP au niveau europen qui
pourrait contribuer au dveloppement de ce type de coopration. Ainsi, la
Commission europenne a fait les dmarches pour combiner les trois
anciennes directives concernant les travaux, les fournitures et les services
publiques, dans un seul acte, la directive 2004/18/CE du Parlement europen
et du Conseil du 31 mars 2004 relative la coordination des procdures de
passation des marchs publics de travaux, de fournitures et de services .
Keywords: Public Authorities, Private Entities, Cooperation, Contractual
Arrangement, Legislation.

he transition to market economies of
the Central and Eastern European
countries has put to the test the
ability of the central and local public
authorities to adapt to the new economic,
political and social environment which is
constantly evolving. The public authorities
had to find new resources to cope to the
reality of a changing world that struggled
to deploy the Western pattern in an effort
to attract sustainable growth. Thus the aim
of increasing the ability of public authorities
to better respond to domestic demands for
services and products found one of its
solutions in the area of Public-Private
Partnerships.
Public authorities acknowledged that
fostering Public-Private Partnerships could
become a means of improving both the
competitiveness and quality of public
utility services, a means of reducing the
costs of projects as a whole, while, at the
same time, these types of partnerships
could generate additional incomes for the
entities operating in the private sector.
None the least, Public-Private Partnerships
T
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Public-Private Partnership and the New Public Procurement Directive

117
have proven their capacity to inflict a
speeding up in the delivery of the final
services and in the accomplishment of the
programed infrastructure projects.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are
a type of contractual arrangements that
have been spreading in the relations between
the public authorities and the economic
operators since the beginning of the 1990s.
The public authorities benefit from this
cooperation as they can surpass the
budgetary constraints which hamper their
activities, while, at the same time, gain
access to the private sector know-how.
Public authorities also derive profit from
this type of contractual arrangement since
the PPPs effect certain savings as they deal
with the particular project from the early
phase of design till the last phase of
reaping the full benefits of the project.
Moreover, the increase in the desire of
the private sector to embark upon a series
of responsibilities and risks on the one
hand, and, on the other hand, the desire of
the public sector to privatize some of the
public utility services has been translated
into an escallation of the efforts to consider
the solution of Public-Private Partnerships
to the issue of achieving economic and
social goals in our country. This merge
between PPPs and the need to provide
some efficient public utility services constitutes
a new dimension in the discussion on the
margin of the role of national authorities,
as they evolve from the posture of direct
operator to the position where they merely
systematize, regulate and controll the
political, economic and social sphere
1
.
However, relevant authorities in Candidate
Countries and Member States have the
final responsibility for deciding on whether
to use PPP or other financing vehicles
2
.
Notwithstanding the fact that public
sector organizations embarking upon this
type of contractual arrangement still have
to manage the proposed objectives in the
public interest
3
, by resorting to PPPs, they
will be able to ensure the accomplishment
of the public utility project turning to
private sector resources. At Community
level, PPPs not only foster the dialogue on
services of general interest, but are also
commited to the achievement of the
European Innitiative for Growth and of the
trans-European transport networks
4
.
At international level, promoting PPPs
translates into three main trends: increasing
investments in infrastructure, boosting the
efficiency of financial resources, increasing
the rate of return of the funds invested. The
financial return of the investments appears
to be a key issue for the success of the
promotion of this cooperation between the
public and the private sectors, as it represents
a major risk that normaly would have to be
undertaken by the private investor alone
for certain public utility services. National
authorities also take into account the possible
externalities when considering wether to
embark upon a PPPs as oposed to private
operators, thus increasing the chances of
these public authorities to start a project of
general utility no matter the level of the
financial return
5
.
However, it has been argued for the
necessity of a specific legal framework for
Public-Private Partnerships at European level
which would contribute to the development
of this type of cooperation between the
public authority and the economic agents
from the private domain. The European
officials thus launched a public consultation
through the 1996 Green Paper on public-
private partnerships and Community law
on public contracts and concessions
6
on
the manner in which to expand the climate
of competition and legal transparency in
which the PPPs operate. This consultation
was aimed at collecting opinions on topics
such as the framework of the procedures
for selecting the private partner, the
establishment of private initiative PPPs, the
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Ctlina Maria Georgescu


118
contractual framework and any changes
made in the course of a PPP, sub-contracting,
the importance of effective competition in
the case of institutionalised PPPs, best
practices
7
etc.

Risks of Public-Private Partnerships
The need for legal transparency also
had a second justification materialized in
the need to control the possible risks that
might occur. The fact is that it is impossible
to predict with absolute certainty that a
contractual agreement of this size, length
in time and value operates without the
menacing perspective of a future risk. The
risks that might appear in the unfolding of
a PPP contract are defined as facts, events
or influences which threaten the accomplishment
of a project at a desired time, cost and/or
quality. That is why a huge part in the
success of a PPP project is allocated to the
ability to predict and obviate any possible
risk. Also, the capacity to share the
perspectives and costs of any possible risk
between the two partners public
authorities and private entities represents a
major step forward in the establishing of a
climate of confidence and transparency
that allows the carrying out of the project
in the best circumstances. However, it is
not always easy to share the perspective of
a risk and also the part which is most
capable of assuming and administering it
does not always wish to assume that risk.
Ideally, that entity, be it public or private,
which has the capacity to handle any
future inconvenient of this sort, should also
assume it
8
.
Most often, it is the private part that
has that ability to cope with the lack of
predictability in the business environment
because of its more flexible structure and
its orientation towards change, thus being
able to innovate, to assume any risks and
to constantly improve its structure
9
. The
public system is characterized by a different
sort of organizational culture, as it is centered
on dealing with the social demands, the
excessive bureaucracy, the respect of the
law, punctuality etc. This set of cultural
values has been inflicted in the public
system since its formation. This is why the
public system is characterized by a great
deal of rigor, conservatism, rules, procedures,
constraints, be they budgetary or of a
different nature, the perpetration of its
structures, the resistance to change.
This type of hierarchical and centralized
system is centered on control, thus showing
little tendency of cooperation, coordination
or consultation with the public. As it is
oriented towards the protection of its
status-quo, the public system obstinately
avoids risks and making mistakes
10
. On the
other hand, the private environment is
more dynamic, as it has some market
objects established, profitability, economic
supremacy, competitiveness, the quality of
the services rendered, efficiency, increased
speed of reaction etc.
As a result, that part in the PPP project
most capable of handling any risk that
might occur is the private one. Consequently,
most risks are transferred to the private entity.
This operation has multiple advantages:
some costs are decreased, the quality of the
services that are to be provided is increased,
the prediction of all future expenses is eased,
the part is compensated through diverse
stimulants in order to reach the assumed
obligations etc. However, the preliminary
allocation of risk should reflect the specific
characteristics of the project and the underlying
strengths and capacities of each party. The
degree of risk transfer to the private sector
will vary on a project by project basis and
will be informed by the precedent reviews
and analysis and the selected PPP
relationship
11
.
As a result, the parts involved in the
public-private cooperation are likely to
encounter one or several of the following
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119
risk categories. Firstly, the risks associated
with PPPs projects are that more important
as they are most often associated with
severe financial implications. Thus, there
is the risk resulting from the recovery of
the investment, the lack of guarantees and
the level of use and tariff being invoked in
this case. This risk of income achievement
from the exploitation of the leased public
services can also result from possible
future fluctuations in the currency course.
Moreover, there is the risk of not
remaining within the anticipated costs, in
terms of overpaying due to the increase in
prices. Another error occurs when short-
term projects are chosen in the detriment
of long-term, high-value projects, which
involve a serious strategy. Short-term
projects are preferred because of the false
conception that the investment will be
more rapidly recovered. Further, there is
the risk that one of the partners abandons
the partnership in an advanced phase of the
project, when heavy investments have
already been deployed.
Secondly, there is the risk of choosing
the partner from the private sector in terms
of incompetence and/or incapacity, or, on
the contrary, in terms of governmental
involvement, the risk of weak participation
of the representatives of the national public
authorities. Also, there are disadvantages
resulting from the inability to assume the
necessary responsibility by the public
administration. Again, in case of exceptional
situations, one of the parts can opt for not
respecting the obligations stipulated in the
contract which leads to a difficult coordination
of the project.
Thirdly, there are political risks, arriving
from the stability of institutions and fiscal
policies, and environmental and archeological
risk, resulting from the environment protection
and the importance of archeological sites,
which could hamper the unfolding of the
project. A project might also be affected
by the risk of hidden protectionism which
most often results from the lack of
confidence in foreign contractors. Moreover,
regardless the numerous regulations on PPPs,
they might encourage the appearance of
private interest groups in the detriment of
others.
Fourthly, one acknowledges the risk
of public acceptance as it is sometimes
difficult, if not impossible, to integrate a
project within the community if the
population is unwilling to pay for the
services provided through the project.
Also, the condition of the pre-existing
infrastructure systems results in a risk of
latent deficiency.
Finally, there is still another issue that
few accnoledged as constituting a real menace
for the evolution of this cooperation between
the public authorities and the private
economic operators, that of possible legal
loopholes. Efficient regulation was required
so that the objectives of both the public
and private organization meet within a
common denominator
12
. Still, this alledged
insuficient legal certainty
13
was considered
by some as being in fact too complicated
arguing for the merge of the three former
directives on public works, supplies and
services into a single piece of legislation.
Some were convinced that this lack of
legal certainty resulted from the fact that
PPP projects are in fact very numerous and
all have their peculiarities and specific identity.
Thus, this sort of contractual arrangement
complicates the economic climate as,
regardless of the fact that are all styled as
being forms of public procurement, not all
projects from the ever growing number of
PPPs can be included within the limits of
the legislation the New Procurement
Directive which stipulates explicit definitions
and treatments for public contracts, works
concessions and services concessions
14
. In
fact it was the European Commission that
expressed its concerns on the fact that in
EUROPEAN STUDIES
Ctlina Maria Georgescu


120
the initial phase it is difficult to frame a
project as being either a public contract or
a concession
15
and that there where cases
in which negotiations led to changes in the
initial definition
16
. Moreover, the European
Commission accnoledged that the consultation
revealed significant stakeholder opposition
to a regulatory regime covering all
contractual PPPs, irrespective of whether
these are designated as contracts or
concessions. Therefore, the Commission
does not envisage making them subject to
identical award arrangements
17
.

Previous Directives
Directive 98/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998
amending Directive 93/38/EEC coordinating the procurement procedures of entities
operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors.
European Parliament and Council Directive 97/52/EC of 13 October 1997 amending
Directives 92/50/EEC, 93/36/EEC and 93/37/EEC concerning the coordination of
procedures for the award of public service contracts, public supply contracts and public
works contracts respectively.
Council Directive 93/36/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating procedures for the award of
public supply contracts.
Council Directive 93/37/EEC of 14 June 1993 concerning the coordination of
procedures for the award of public works contracts.
Council Directive 93/38/EEC of 14 June 1993 coordinating the procurement
procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications
sectors.
Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of
procedures for the award of public service contracts.

ew Directives for supply, services
and works
On January 2
nd
, 2004, following the
conciliation agreement on simplified and
modernized legislation, two Directives
were adopted: Directive 2004/18/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of
31 march 2004 on the coordination of
procedures for the award of public works
contracts, public supply contracts and
public service contracts
18
and Directive
2004/17/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 31 march 2004
coordinating the procurement procedures
of entities operating in the water, energy,
transport and postal services sector
19
. The
Directives came into force by their
publication in The Official Journal (OJ) on
the 30th of April 2004 and had to be
implemented in the Member States within
a period of 21 months.
The new Public Sector Directive as it
is currently styled gathered the three
existing Directives for public works,
supplies and services into a single piece of
legislation which kept most of the basic
provisions of the three former Directives.
Yet, new articles have found place so that
to reconcile the modern procurement
methods and developments in best practice.
Thus, each Member State can opt for one
of the following new procedures and
techniques for the award of each contract:
competitive dialogue, framework agreements,
central purchasing bodies, new electronic
purchasing systems or electronic auction
20
.
New general and explicit provisions focus
on the following issues: the creation of a
normative product and service nomenclature,
EUROPEAN STUDIES

121
the appearance of additional selection
criteria, the specification of award criteria,
the establishment of a national specification
system for enterprises, the possibility to make
public certain pieces of information on special
national conditions, the introduction of some
minor adjustments to the threshold values etc.
Article 1 (11c) stipulates the definition
of competitive dialogue: it represents a
procedure in which any economic operator
may request to participate and whereby the
contracting authority conducts a dialogue
with the candidates admitted to that
procedure, with the aim of developing one
or more suitable alternatives capable of
meeting its requirements, and on the basis
of which the candidates chosen are invited
to tender. Article 29 (1) stipulates that this
procedure can be preferred for the existing
open, restricted and negotiated procedures
in case of very complex contracts where
the open or restricted procedures will not
result in the award of the contract, by
permitting the dialogue of alternative
solutions in the discussion phase of the
tender process with short-listed bidders
before calling for final bids
21
.

otes
1
Green Paper on Public-Private Partnerships
and Community law on public contracts and
concessions, source: http://europa.eu/scadplus/ leg/
en /lvb/l2201 2 . htm
2
Guidelines for successful Public-Private
Partnerships, European Commission, Directorate -
General for Regional Policy, March 2003, p. 10.
3
Ronan McIvor, The Outsourcing Process:
Strategies for Evaluation and Management,
Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 34.
4
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb /l22012. htm.
5
Ecmt, (Paris) European Conference of Ministers,
Key Issues for Transport Beyond 2000: Introductory
Reports and Summary of Discussions, Source
OECD (Online service), 2002, p. 256.
6
Green Paper on public-private partnerships and
Community law on public contracts and
concessions COM (2004) 327, European
Commission, April 2004.
7
Ibidem.
8
The vast majority of PPP approaches fall in the
middle of spectrum, with risks and responsibilities
shared between the public sector and its private
partners according to their strengths and weaknesses,
source: Guidelines for successful Public-Private
Partnerships, European Commission, Directorate-
General for Regional Policy, March 2003, p. 13.
9
From the Bureaucratic to the Post-Bureaucratic
Organization, source: Kenneth Kernaghan,
Sandford F. Borins, Brian Marson, The ew Public
Organization, Institute of Public Administration of
Canada, 2000, p. 3.
10
Ibidem.
11
Guidelines for successful Public-Private
Partnerships, p. 88.
12
Ronan McIvor, op. cit., p. 34.
13
Michael Burnett, Beyond the ew Public
Procurement Directive The Future of Public
Private Partnerships (PPP), EIPA Scope 2005/3,
Maastricht, pp. 21-25.
14
Ibidem, p. 22.
15
In case of concessions the European
Commission's Interpretative Communication on
concessions under Community law [Official
Journal C 121 of 29 April 2000] stipulates on the
obligations of the national public authorities when
selecting the applicants to whom concessions are
granted as there are no stipulations on concessions
in the European directives on public procurement.
16
Michael Burnett, op. cit., p. 22, citing a
conclusion of the European Commission from the
Green Paper on public-private partnerships and
Community law on public contracts and
concessions COM(2004) 327, European Commission,
April 2004, p. 12. Moreover, Burnett argues that in
the new Directive works concessions are less
regulated than public works contracts, while
service concessions remain entirely outside the
scope of the Directive and are governed only by the
need to apply EU Treaty principles.
17
Communication from the Commission to the
European Parliament, The Council, The
European Economic and Social Committee and
the Committee of the Regions on Public-Private
Partnerships and Community Law on Public
Procurement and Concessions, COM (2005) 569,
European Commission, November 2005.
18
OJ L 134/114.
19
OJ L 134/1.
20
Leif Raun, EU Working Group Public
Procurement, EIC Aarhus, Denmark, May 2004.
21
Directive 2004/18/EC, Article 29.
EUROPEAN STUDIES


122

Lisbon 2007: Advance or Regression in Europe?

Lucian PRVU

Rsum: En dcembre 2007, les chefs dtats et de gouvernements des 27
pays membres de lUE ont sign, a Lisbonne, un nouveau trait qui fait
quelques pas dans la direction de la construction dune identit politique
europenne. Bian que les progrs soient assez timides, le nouveau trait a un
grand avantage par rapport au projet antrieur: on nemploye plus le mot
constitution pour dsigner un document qu nest, en fait, quun trait
international. Plusieurs auteurs ont consider que ladoption dun tel trait
est une rvolution tranquille.
Keywords: Treaty, European Constitution, European Institutions, Identity.

urope is not the same place it was
50 years ago, and nor is the rest of
the world.In a constantly changing,
ever more interconnected world, Europe is
grappling with new issues: globalization,
demographic shifts, climate change, the
need for sustainable energy sources and
new security threats. These are the
challenges facing Europe in the 21st
century.
Borders count for very little in the
light of these challenges. The EU countries
cannot meet them alone. But acting as one,
Europe can deliver results and respond to
the concerns of the public. For this, Europe
needs to modernise. The EU has recently
expanded from 15 to 27 members; it needs
effective, coherent tools so it can work
properly and respond to the rapid changes
of the world. That means rethinking some
of the ground rules for working together.
After more than two years of
institutional crisis, the heads of state and of
government of the European countries,
came to an concord on a new
constitutional agreement. The signature of
the Agreement of Lisbon will reach a long
process of pitfalls and suspense in the EU
after the rejection, for the Frenchmen and
Dutches of the project of European
Constitution that became ratified by 18
States after his signature in Rome in
October, 2004.
In December 13, 2007, in Lisbon, the
heads of state and of government of 27
member states signed the new agreement.
Romania, one of the last two countries that
joined to UE, confirm once again his european
commitment, being between the first
countries which approved the new
agreement. The Agreement will have to be
ratified also for all the associates of the EU
before coming into force in 2009, but in
this occasion everything indicates that only
Ireland, which must do it for law, will put
it to the test of a referendum.
With it there has been finished to the
debate concerning badly called European
E
EUROPEAN STUDIES
Lisbon 2007: Advance or Regression in europe?

123
Constitution, which in the last years had
caused sour polemics and has made to
cover rivers of ink. Earlier there had never
happened so openly the deep truth of the
famous dictum of Julius von Kirchmann:"
Only one grinder word of the legislator
turns entire libraries into garbage ".
The intensely studies and alive scientific
discussions concerning the constitutional
and political value - legal transcendental of
so called " Treated by that a Constitution is
established for Europe "have remained put
aside and shut up in the quarter of the old
useless equipment. Now the Agreement of
Reform comes, or Agreement of Lisbon,
one more from those than is added to the
vast set that is integrating the material
constitution from the functionals agreements
of the 50s of last century.

Calm revolution
Nevertheless, this agreement presents
us like an authentic calm revolution,
receiving those elements of the frustrated
Constitution that turn out to be acceptable
for all and essential for galvanizing the EU
and prepare her for the times that approach.
It is still very early to value if these targets
will be really covered across an instrument
as this one, but yes it is convenient to stop,
to reflect on a circumstance: from the point
of view of the project of European
integration at all the levels: is it gained or
gets lost with this agreement, particularly
as regards the previous Constitution?

Previous project
It is clear that the previous project,
although it was far away from being very
much a real constitutional letter (in the
measurement in which it was trumping the
basic premise of the existence of one let's
give recognizable European as constituent
entity) and was presenting serious technical
shortcomings, at least was showing some
distinctive signs of what should be a political
Europe and was offering rules of
performance that they could lead to the
attainment of common targets of wide scope,
as soon as that was talking each other
about a text inspired by beginning universal.
On the contrary, the new agreement is
clearly imbued with an intergovernmental
logic and suvereign tendencies. Not only
there has been extirpated of his text all
kinds of references to the constitutional
character of the agreement, but also any
external sign that he makes think, at least
remotely, about the possibility of a medium-
term improvement of the anachronistic
division of Europe about sovereign States.

ew step
Finally, in Lisbon a new step backwards
has been staged in the construction of a
political European identity, not so much
for what in his own contains the new
agreement (that is better than what now
exists), but especially for what he supposes
of wasted occasion and of clamorous
resignation.
Only a positive thing can be said in
favor of the new agreement with regard to
the previous project: at least, the mental
violence will save us of having to call
Constitution to what it wasnt but a new
international agreement that was capturing
the powerlessness of Europe to raise a
serious alternative to the hegemonic power
of this encompassed world.
With this text, the community associates
think about how to improve and to make
working his institutions more effective
adapting them to the new dimensions after
the arrival of twelve new members. For
that, it will join, from new 2014, one
system of voting, in which the most
inhabited countries as Germany gain
weight. It includes also the elimination of
the right of veto in 40 areas, between them
the political ones of immigration and
police and judicial cooperation. They try to
EUROPEAN STUDIES
Lucian Prvu


124
provide also the EU of a major cohesion
and proper personality at the time of acting
in the international scene, incorporating
the figure of a permanent president and of
a species of the Secretary of State, which
formally the main representative will keep
on calling. To be able to be approved by
all, to this Agreement of reform there have
been eliminated him the denominations
and difficult paragraphs included in the
project of Constitution.

Shy advances
It is true that the agreement contains
some of the shy of integration advances of
the previous project as the most important:
the merger of the current three props in the
Union provided with juridical proper
personality, even at the cost of the
disappearance of the noble and evocative
name of European Community.
Nevertheless, it does not prevent to
see cosmetic changes, in the measurement
in which they keep on prevailing, elements
that leave in hands of the States (or rather
it would be necessary to say of the
executives of the States) the definition of
the main political ones of the Union,
across the functioning of the beginning of
subsidiarity and proportionality (very defensive
at state, but not like that level to European
scale); the demand of unanimity for
performances in so sensitive matters for
the citizenship as political social, fiscal and
financial (what leaves in the air the
effectiveness of the proclaimed beginning
of solidarity); or the authorization of
numerous clauses of opting out in favor of
the Member states (even in a basic area as
it is that of the fundamental rights). All
this, not long ago believable the existence
of an authentic will to advance for the
route of a major real integration.
The European Union, as soon as the
Agreement of Lisbon was signed,easily
breathed, after a long situation of impasse
which supposed a big wear. With
everything: attention! the ratifications of
the Agreement are absent, in the national
Parliaments and, at least in case of Ireland,
by means of referendum. Let's do votes
and make an effort - so that the worst thing
does not happen. It would be fatal for the
collective future of the European Union
and for his exterior credibility.
Meanwhile, and in spite of these
positive symptoms, this year , 2008, does
not seem of good patronage. The signs of
the financial crisis that affects the world
Stock Exchanges, can drive, with certain
probability, to an important economic crisis,
with inevitable reflexes in Europe. The financial
and speculative capitalism removed from
the real productive economy and without
possible control it seems to have lost the
head, according to Stiglitz. In fact, it is
causing serious obstacles for the global
development, which it affects to the emergent
countries as China.
On the other hand, the social
inequalities are more deeper, both in the
rich countries and in the poor countries.
Hence the tension of many countries and
the important riots of the population, even
in the most developed States. The neo-
liberalism an ideology that in the last
years so many influence reached in the
United States, his cradle, as well as in
some emergent countries and in the proper
European Union, even in countries which
Governments were sending to the social
democracy, to the Labour Movement and
to the democratic socialism seems to be
today in routes of depletion. In spite of
everything, consistent alternatives still will
not arise and with certain theoretical
intrinsic coherence. It is known that only
the economic globalization must surrender
to the ethical rules and acquire a social and
environmental dimension, so that a
catastrophe could be avoided. Nevertheless,
for it is a necessary political will and
EUROPEAN STUDIES
Lisbon 2007: Advance or Regression in europe?

125
value - on the part of whom they direct the
world.
Before such a panorama, with so
many current wars and so many worrying
signs in the economic, institutional and
religious areas it is very difficult to do
forecasts. Nevertheless, a sign of hope
exists: the fact that there is arising a world
informed public opinion, which is getting
accustomed to comprising the events beyond
the appearances. This opinion starts being
able to demonstrate and counting in the
complicated strategic world balances.
With all this, the majority think that
Europe went out of his intitutional crisis
and is ready to confront with the new
provocations of the future. The new
agreement brings some new elements that
will form the engine of the institutional
reform of the European Union.

This way, EU stretches from now on
the juridical personality and has the capacity
of representation as his 27 members.
We can believe that United Europe
enters in a new stage of evolution once
with this agreement. That's why, we greet
the Agreement of Lisbon, like an
expression of the European prosperity, of
his progress institutional and in the same
time, of our own progress, as member-
state of this big family.

Sources: The Spanish daily El Pais, the
spanish daily El Mundo, the site of
European Committee (ec.europa.eu), the
site of the Rumanian government (www.
gov.ro), The European Parliament, the site
of European Union (http://europa.eu).

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